Scarecrow
by Felix02
Summary: Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku.
1. Moment

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

He looked different. Yes different was the most accurate word she could think of, but then different could take on many meanings. Biting her lower lip Sakura looked at a man she hadn't seen in over eight years, a man who she thought died in a tragic accident six years before, and he was different in a different kind of way.

It wasn't the kind of different that any person could point out like "Oh, his hair is longer," or "Oh, his face has most certainly aged." That type of different was obvious, practical, normal. The man in front of her, the man who calmly stared at the Hokage was far from normal; and because he was far from normal his difference was obscure.

But it was there, so much that it chilled her through and through. It could have been the flicker of light in his brown eye, his lazy and slouched posture, but whatever it was it frightened her.

Silently Sakura watched the white haired ninja amble closer towards Tsunade before firmly stopping before the woman's desk. There was a faint smile showing in his eye. Sakura swallowed. His smile scared her, churned her insides, and at that moment she knew with certainty that he was not the sensei she used to know.

Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man long ago. How ironic the image was.

Tsunade leaned forward on her hands, green eyes betraying nothing of the emotions beneath her calm facade. Shizune did not do as well as her boss for her eyes were wide awakened by surprise and something else Sakura could not explain. It could have been hope or hate because before Kakashi's disappearance there were rumors of there being something between the two.

She had her doubts eight years ago, but Sakura didn't doubt the rumors now. She watched distractedly as the older woman excused herself from the room leaving only her and Tsunade-sama. Sakura had long forgotten why she was in the room in the first place, the files under her arms having no explanation for her. She couldn't remember with a fog covered mind.

"You're alive." The statement, despite its obviousness, resounded throughout the room before going silent once again. Sakura held her breath as she watched Kakashi's expression become only more pleasant in humor; the difference from before alarmed her.

"I can hardly believe it as well, Hokage-sama." he voiced dully rubbing the back of his neck.

"Your name is on the Memorial Stone," Tsunade continued on as if he hadn't spoken, and Sakura took the chance to really look at her ex-sensei.

His hair was darker than before, more silver and long with the ends touching his face in mockery. The cloths he had worn for the mission were gone replaced with an outfit Naruto once described a bounty hunter he knew wearing; a brown trench coat with short, light fitting pants and white tunic that wrapped around his chest and stomach. The shoes he had though were the same and looked as if he had repaired them many times before.

Ancient Sakura thought as he looked to her. Kakashi was ancient in the sense of history but not of age. He smiled when his eye met her own green ones, and by instinct alone she smiled back unaware of reality. This was all a dream, had to be a dream - it was too surreal. To her he was like a man from an age old folk tale brought to life, in her life, into everyone's life.

Strange Hatake Kakashi was alive, but she felt no joy. Coldness. Only coldness.

"It has been eight years, Hokage-sama." he shrugged casually taking his eye away from hers smiling still. "I don't blame you."

It was all too familiar, and all too unfamiliar.

A clock on the far wall chimed heavily in Sakura's ears and she blinked as the world became alive again. Colors flooded her senses along with the sound of the same ticking clock, and the fear she held before had gone leaving only a dull throb as evidence of its being there. And Tsunade-sama seemed to grown again in stature where before she had appeared to shrink.

She coughed. "The mission was a failure, then?"

"No," he offered casually. "I completed it. Claw Country is safe now or was back then."

Tsunade coughed again and Sakura could feel the fury boiling just beneath the surface of her sensei. For her own self not anger boiled, but curiously with a touch of humor.

"Then. What. Happened?"

Sakura almost visualized Kakashi's smile underneath his mask and to prove her assumption he chuckled tilting his head to the side, a hand in his pocket. "I got sidetracked."

Tsunade quickly turned towards Sakura and motioned for her to leave the room. She nodded not offended by the command; private matters had to be private, and even though she wanted to stay and listen to what Kakashi had to say arguing with Tsunade at a time like this would not have been a wise decision. She wasn't Naruto who was innately foolish enough to stay and argue.

Walking past Kakashi she felt his eye on her and she just before opening the door she stopped and turned. "Tsunade," Sakura voiced feeling Kakashi's eye on her the entire time. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei only saw a black cat in his path and had to take a detour."

He had a smile in his eye when she mustard the courage to look at him and she laughed as he laughed the two remembering his excuses when she was younger.

"Not just one, Sakura," he began, "there were about five."

She chuckled her skin prickling in caution. He was so calm, so casual, it put her on edge; this wasn't the Kakashi she had known. Beneath the surface another man lived and breathed, another man who had maybe been her sensei once but was no longer.

Sakura only nodded and left glad to be out of the room and Kakashi's presence never knowing how their paths would cross in the future. Never knowing, never dreaming the impact he would have on her soul. Never imagining how she could never live her life without him again.

&&&

"Can't believe he's back," Naruto's voice droned over the table as he took his seat. The bar was rather quiet tonight Sakura thought on looking around.

The news of Hatake's return had spread like wildfire since his appearance and there had been mixed emotions on the topic. There were people like Shizune, joyous yet angry. She had married a man by the name of Jiro six years after Kakashi's death supposedly moved on. People like Naruto, hallow and stunned by his revival. People like Sasuke who always remained apathetic. People like Gai, Genma, and Anko who turned up right as Kakashi left the Hokage's chamber and patted him on the back saying with confidence that they knew he hadn't been done in. But there had been none like her as far as she could tell. No one as scared as shit as she, no one who noticed that slight flicker of light in his eye.

Over the past few hours, Sakura came to realize that it was the spark of insanity but an insanity of a different type than anything she'd ever seen. And she couldn't explain it, did not want to think about it. She wanted to feel happy, stunned, or furious but nothing came. It was surreal and terrifying and she didn't know why.

"Hmm," Sasuke replied crossing his arms leaning back against his chair. "Doesn't really matter anyway. Good that he's alive, but it doesn't really affect me. He has been dead."

"You feel nothing, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked quietly placing her hand over Naruto's and smiled. "He was our sensei."

"You bastard, Sasuke!" Naruto's voice trembled and Sakura closed her eyes. It was just like Naruto to get over emotional with such an answer; he thought it an injustice to Kakashi's reputation and honor.

Sasuke never batted an eye but calmly assessed Naruto before giving a quiet laugh. "Naruto, calm down. I meant no disrespect, but the man's been dead in my eyes for six years and now suddenly he shows up," he shrugged. "I am not surprised or ecstatic. He's just back."

With that Sasuke stood and walked away.

Sakura gave a grateful look towards Sasuke before turning back towards Naruto. "It's okay not to understand Sasuke-kun; he has his own way of doing things, Naruto-kun."

Sakura glanced once more at the retreating Uchiha's back before shaking her head. Truth be told, if they had been younger Sasuke would not have even offered an explanation. Time sure did miracles.

Naruto cursed a few times before nodding. "Yeah, I know, but that just makes me want to beat his sorry ass even more."

Slapping the back of Naruto's head in good nature reverted the blond shinobi back to his normal self, as normal as could be with the situation at present. "Hey, hey, hey! Sakura-chan, what was that for?"

"To show my love," Sakura said with a smile making Naruto blush.

"You know, Sakura-chan, I do have Hinata..."

Slapping the back of his head again, Sakura replied, "That was to stop being such an idiot."

"Alright. Alright. I get it." There was a long stretch of silence between the two as both watched familiar and unfamiliar shinobi stop by their bar, as they dubbed it, since they were the first ones there for its opening. Inwardly Sakura was glad that Sasuke, in his foresight, secured a table back in the shadows. Sakura didn't want to talk to anyone about Kakashi right now, everyone excluding her genin team.

There had been too many people asking about her reaction to his return since she had been his student at one time. She felt as though it were a private matter between them and felt silly for thinking so. But it wasn't everyday a respected teacher you always looked up to (on _important_ issues) came back from the dead six years after his supposed death. Sakura always admired the copy-ninja, and the topic of his disappearance had always been sacred ground for her for stupid reasons. It was almost as if she wanted to keep a piece of his memory private.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto started draining his glass of sake. Looking at Naruto Sakura's face fell. The hyper-active, number one ninja actually looked somber, quieted. She didn't like the look on him; Naruto was made for laughter and faces of triumph.

Slowly he spun the sake glass in his right hand. "Yes," she prompted.

"I heard you saw Kakashi when he showed up." Sakura nodded at her friend a thought nagging at the back of her mind. Should she tell Naruto of the insanity that she had seen? She wanted to confide in someone and her best friend was a good start, but she didn't want to excite Naruto because he was prone to taking rash actions.

Sakura shook her head. She couldn't tell anyone and take the chance of being wrong, but she was so sure...

"Yes, I was with Tsunade when he came into the room." Sakura dully looked at her friend. "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah," Naruto smirked. "He looks like that..."

"…bounty hunter you once knew." Naruto laughed placing two hands behind his head.

"Can't believe you actually remembered that story, Sakura-chan! I always thought you just pretended to listen."

Sakura giggled her fingers on her lips. "I usually did, but I was extra perceptive on that one."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, well, you see baa-sama send Kiba, Hinata, and I..." he stopped. "Hey, hey, hey, Sakura-chan! You aren't listening to me!"

Sakura laughed again feeling some weight move off her shoulders. "Sorry," she offered.

"All those times I had to listen to you," he continued and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Are you listening to me? Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan?"

"Sorry, didn't hear you," Sakura teased and watched as Naruto exploded into animation. Yes normalcy was good.

**A/N:** If you disagree with me on something, see a problem, or just plain out don't like something please calmly write about it so that we may talk like adults. I don't mind flames, but I do mind childish, pointless flames that do not have a reason behind them like, "I hate this story because Sakura's hair is pink!"

Thank you for reading,  
**Felix02**


	2. Health

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and please don't get angry with me for posting a new Kaka/Saku story. I couldn't help myself.

A big thanks to royal bluekitsune for editing all of my Kaka/Saku stories. I couldn't ask for a better friend or beta.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago, and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

Sakura never expected to see Kakashi so soon, especially the next morning sitting in a spare chair in her office, at the hospital, with a lazy expression in his visible eye.

"Kakashi," she startled walking into the room, a chill finding it way down her back.

"Yo, Sakura." he lifted two fingers up in a salute, an irregular calmness around him. Staring at him, Sakura found that his old cloths were traded in for a too familiar jounin vest and hatai-tai, but instead of making him into something that he had once been -the teacher she'd once respected- it made him look all the more foreign in her eyes. As if a little boy was pretending to be a beloved father mimicking his ways and dress.

Sakura hid her sudden terror at the unfamiliar with a dazzling smile, or so she hoped. "What can I do for you?" She tried to sound pleasant but the look in his eye told her that he knew what she was thinking. It was that same momentarily flicker in his dark eye that let her know he could still read her after all these years, and it infuriated her.

He merely pointed to a file that was new on her desk with a careless shrug. "Tsunade wants you to give me a physical; she_ thought _I would be more comfortable having an ex-student do it for me."

Gritting her teeth, Sakura thought it a shame that the Hokage didn't take her feelings into consideration; like would she be comfortable giving the physical? Of course, no such thing as consideration ever took part on a medic-nin's behalf. Medic nins were medics for a reason, and comfort was a luxury not often found in her line of duty.

Placing her bag next to her desk and brushing a few strands of hair from her face, Sakura nodded picking up the manila file with the Hokage's scratchy hand writing that labeled the file as Hatake Kakashi's. Feeling its weight in her hands Sakura shook her head solemnly thinking that she should have expected as much. Kakashi, in his life, had been on countless missions - most of them dangerous solos - and if anything, the weight of his hospital file proved that his body had been injured far too many times for her liking.

How much could this man take?

She smiled taking the file under her arm, a smile that Kakashi soon echoed, "Well then, Kakashi. I don't suppose you like hospitals? From what I remember you usually took your care in your own house despite hospital regulations."

Kakashi's eye flickered in the light above. "I don't mind hospitals, Sakura; I just don't see the need for them for me on most occasions."

Sakura rolled her eyes motioning him to walk out the door. "I'll try to make this quick so that you may get back to whatever else Tsunade has on your schedule today." Sakura flashed him a quick, amused look, "It's not everyday a man who supposedly died comes back to the village. She must have you under constant surveillance and questioning."

He didn't face her when he answered, "Not really. The history of my time away was acceptable to her." He didn't expound any more than that, and Sakura was inwardly glad that he didn't, not that she had thought he would.

Again there came that cold feeling, a terror that curled tighter and tighter in her stomach, leaving behind a mix of emptiness and cold. With a furtive glance at the tall man by her side, Sakura willed her nerves to calm. He gave her nothing noticeable to fear, but her instincts were her only guide; they sent signals to her brain making her body tense and adrenalin rush just in case she needed to run or fight.

He was so calm walking by her side that she felt silly for her body reacting in such a biological way. His gait was slow, yet purposeful, a gait of a man who hadn't the care in the world, and she became momentarily surprised when he pulled from his pocket a new edition of _Icha Icha Paradise_. She laughed nervously as her pen dropped from her hand.

He stopped and waited as she picked the object up from the floor, his eye never leaving her form. The lights of the hospital seemed to shine too bright, the tile felt too cold, and the area too quiet; so quiet that any sound was amplified unpleasantly. Hairs on the back of her neck stood on end alert to his eye on her, and she waited for him to do something, say something, but nothing happened.

She sighed, as she looked up at his face feeling stupid and childish for imagining that Kakashi would try to hurt her, because Sakura knew with her whole self that Kakashi would never do such a thing. Her instincts told her that, but they also told her to be wary of the white haired man beside her. They told her not to get to near for there was something lurking beneath a mask of civility and placidness.

Opening a door marked five-o-one, Sakura lead Kakashi to a white covered table and watched him with disinterested eyes as she came back to her senses, her mark of a medic nin taking over her crazed thoughts about Kakashi. He was but a patient in her eyes now, no more, no less - an object that had to be check over with careful consideration to detail. Nothing could frighten her when she was like this, her mind too preoccupied over her labor.

She was a medic nin Sakura thought regarding Kakashi, as he stripped in front of her, through eyes that were no longer a woman's but a doctors; and because she was a medic nin, Sakura was able to look at a well handsome figure, mask on, with calculating eyes.

All she saw was a human, male body. No more, no less. But that was through a doctor's eyes only.

&&&

"You're free to go now," Sakura hummed out loud turning her back to Kakashi so he could change. Yet it was a rather mute point since she'd seen him almost completely nude, but that had been when she was in her medic phase aware of nothing but a human body in front of her.

He quietly dressed behind her while she scanned through his med-files every now and then correcting some number or another. All in all, Kakashi was quite healthy; he was a little thin but nothing too drastic, and Sakura blamed all the traveling he had to have done while gone. But...she tapped her pen to her mouth sensing Kakashi's presence a couple of feet behind her.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" He asked with an ever-bored tone.

She shook her head. "No really. I would just like you to gain a few pounds, about five or so. I would like you to come back in one month for a post-check."

Looking at him she smiled and he nodded in conformation walking to the door where he disappeared a moment later. Sakura's body shook and she feel tiredly against the wall. Her hands were shaking as she brought them to her face to lean into them. Closing her eyes tightly, Sakura prayed for peace to return to her heart.

Why was she so frightened? It was absolutely absurd for her to be so. At times she was perfectly all right with his presence and then at other times she felt like running from the room. Away from him.

Once again she was a little girl afraid of the monster under her bed and the boogieman in her closet; she knew they were not there but was afraid nonetheless. Just as with Kakashi, she knew he would never harm her yet she still feared him.

He was and wasn't the man she had known, and for some insane reason she wanted to know why. Her mother always told her to let a sleeping dog lie, but Sakura couldn't deny the curious fear Kakashi ignited within her.

Eyeing the open file on the counter, Sakura signed Hatake's profile as updated.

Much later Sakura wondered if she should have requested a sanity test for Hatake - she couldn't forget those eyes of his when she first saw him.

&&&

Sakura closed her eyes as Sasuke spoke, "Kakashi's here."

"What?" Naruto asked deceptively low and out of character as he glanced at the bar's entrance and seeing their ex-sensei with a few other shinobi - Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, and Gai. Genma had already been at the bar flirting with women as the five older shinobi walked over to him.

Sakura wanted to sink further into the shadows to avoid the scene Naruto would surely make to draw Kakashi over. She had no desire to see the copy-ninja, still trying to sort out her feelings towards him. Furthermore, she never wanted to see that flicker of light, of strange insanity in his eyes ever again; it was worst than any nightmare.

Sasuke noticed her discomfort, she knew, because he gave her a knowing look. "Something wrong, Sakura?" He asked lowly. Naruto wasn't paying attention.

She shook her head and smiled. "Nothing, Sasuke-kun. It's been a long day, that's all."

His dark eyes held a hint of suspicion but he nodded letting her have space. She gave him a grateful look and he nodded in reply. Trust Sasuke not to interfere where one didn't want him.

"Hey, we should go say hi." Naruto suggested hardly able to sit still in his chair.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You haven't talked to him yet, moron?"

Naruto growled glaring at Sasuke. "Stupid, of course I have. I just want to say hi again."

Sakura laughed nervously, "If you want to say hi, Naruto, we aren't stopping you."

"You don't either, Sakura-chan?" Naruto pasted on a sad face, which Sakura could only sigh to. She could never resist those faces he gave her now, but that had been different when she was younger. As a pre-teen she had always seen Naruto as an idiot, a person to stay away from because he was stupid and nothing but trouble. Yet, as time went by and she was placed in Team Seven with him, Sakura had grown to love the number-one-hyper-active ninja with her whole heart.

He had always been there for her, even when she hurt and taunted him. Naruto did his best to protect her and his friends, and his determination and strength could change any soul for the better. And with time he'd become her best friend - more so than anyone else.

"I talked to him earlier today because Tsunade sent him to me for a physical." Sakura explained to her former teammates as they nodded thoughtfully, well Sasuke did while Naruto had a better means of communication.

Laughing he nearly screamed, "You saw Kakashi naked!"

Sakura gripped his mouth in her hand and punched him on the head. Sasuke never moved during the whole charade, merely watched detached amusement. "You idiot, it was a physical and I'm a medic nin. And no, I did not see him naked, you hentai! I swear that frog-hermit was a horrible influence on you!"

"Bah!" Naruto grumbled pushing away from the irate kunoichi, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed into slits, looking for the entire world like some great injustice had been done to him. "You're too violent, Sakura-chan. Baa-sama must have been a bad influence on you!" he accused.

"At least I learned usual skills unlike how to spy on women bathing." Sakura stated lifting her nose.

"What! Rasengan isn't unless," Naruto argued back, standing up.

Sasuke, suddenly, gripped his shirt and pulled him back down with a, "Shut up both of you. And Naruto," Sasuke sighed, "Grow up. Sakura is a medic, she has to do those procedures."

"Whatever, Sasuke." Naruto opened one eye to look at Sakura. "Well, Sakura-chan, was he hot?"

Not even Sasuke could have foreseen the punch she aimed at Naruto's face.

"That was to show you my love, Naruto-kun." Sakura said whipping her wands together and smirking at Sasuke's slightly upward tipped mouth.

"I'm pleased you don't love me that much," Sasuke voiced humorlessly staring uncomfortable at Naruto's hushed form.

With a quick glance at Naruto, Sakura shook her head. "He'll get over it. And I do love you just as much, Sasuke-kun, but you never allow me a chance to show it." She finished placing her head on her hands and blinking up at him innocently.

She loved spending two with her old teammates for the happiness and memories that brought her. She loved Sasuke's calm demeanor, Naruto's even loud mouth, their arguments and their laughter, because it let her forget her problems and just be for a little bit.

"I'm glad," Sasuke replied standing and bidding farewell to both Naruto, who regained consciousness, and Sakura who waved watching him stride out the door. She caught Kakashi's eye follow the remaining Uchiha before he turned his head to both Naruto and she, a gaze that she quickly avoided.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto stated excitedly. "Now that the bastard is gone, let's go visit Kakashi."

Naruto knew her well.

Sakura nodded as she followed Naruto to the bar. Whenever Sasuke was around she never wanted to do anything that would make her seem childish in his eyes. She did not feel an attraction towards their stoic friend, but since she was young she had always felt a need to impress the last Uchiha. Before, it had been because she was supposedly in love with him, wanted him to notice her; now it was the same reason Naruto's had been - she wanted his approval as a shinobi. She wanted him to look upon her and see a strong kunoichi and woman. Naruto gave his approval freely, but Sasuke needed more than just friendship to give that honor away.

So she saved her silly, fun times for Naruto.

"If it isn't the beautiful Sakura," Genma said nursing his drink, "And her shadow, Naruto." he finished in good humor making the blond ninja at her side smile.

Sakura closed her eyes thinking of the conversation to come. While Genma was a fun treat to be around, his constant flirting made her edgy when it became overboard, and by overboard Sakura meant when he became too intoxicated. Luckily Naruto always prevented his more daring gestures, but it was always more for the protection of Genma than herself. "Actually, Genma, I'm more Naruto's shadow now."

She didn't miss Kakashi's stare when she said that. Of course he must have been somewhat surprised; when he left, she and Naruto weren't nearly as close as they were today. That had been eight years ago when she was fifteen, when Naruto still aggravated the hell out of her...well, he still did but she never followed him like she did in this day and age. It seemed as if their roles had switched and she didn't really mind at all. Naruto was her best friend and though he had Hinata, he loved her still as a sister.

"Oh! How could I forget that you choose him over me," Genma sighed dramatically.

"I'd say the woman was in good mind." Anko cut in glaring at Genma. A red alarm went off in Sakura's mind, and she made a memo to herself to ask Shikamaru about something later.

Sakura laughed giving a grateful thanks to Naruto who pulled up a chair for them both, "Genma, Naruto has Hinata."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "So...Kakashi, how's your first day back in Konoha? Did baa-sama give you a whole lot of crap to do?"

Humor flashed in his dark eye as she stared at Sakura, "Only a physical."

Naruto was obvious to Sakura's discomfort. "Oh yeah, she did mention that earlier..."

Sakura was no longer listening as something swelled in the pit of her belly. Yes, Kakashi had humor in his eye when he spoke, a humor that would have been warm and comforting if something unexplainable hadn't put her on edge. Didn't anyone else feel what she did? Didn't anyone else notice that the man before them was different yet familiar? Maybe there was something wrong with her; she could have been just overreacting to his return, trying to find some that would make it even more dramatic and unbelievable than it should have been.

She was overreacting. Yes, that was it!

Just overreacting to simple, extraordinary things.

**A/N:** I would like to thank everyone who review – they really inspire me to keep on writing. I also have to say I loved that one of my reviews labeled me a suspense writer. I just thought that was funny since I never thought myself as such…more of a romance write I thought I was.

Thank you for taking the time to read,  
**Felix02**


	3. Delusion

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and please don't get angry with me for posting a new Kaka/Saku story. I couldn't help myself.

I'm back from the dead. I know it has been a long time since I uploaded anything, but hopefully this will please you. Hopefully…

This chapter is **dedicated** to **royal bluekitsune**.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago, and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

It was so very cold.

When she breathed her breathed turned a slivery smoke. Sakura watched in amazement as the cloud billowed lazily up in the darkness until it dissipated entirely. She breathed again, and again, and again her eyes never leaving the pale breath escaping from her mouth and shivered.

Suddenly there was a light ahead; a very small light that grew larger when she walked closer and closer to it, but the coldness only grew colder as she neared the light. Her hands and fingers turned blue and no longer shook and her finger nails turned purple with a loss of blood, but Sakura forged on. She couldn't feel. It was blissful as it was terrifying; terrifying as it was exciting. She could feel the chill on her eyeballs, but she couldn't tell if she was blinking or not. They were numb, too numb.

She stopped, a frozen pressure forcing its weight onto her back making her kneel. If she screamed Sakura neither heard nor felt her mouth open. She was unaware that her two hands griped her throat. Her skin became so pale that blue and green veins revealed their size, shape, and pattern beneath her upper epidermis.

Then, much like a mirror, the vision of light that surrounded her broke and shattered into a million tiny pieces and she was floating in damp darkness. Her pink hair hovered around her body twisting around her neck, fingers, and torso, and it grew longer and longer until it flattened beneath her forming a circle that showed her a pool of liquid darkness which flashed in dark blue waves. Unable to scream, not wanting to move, Sakura stared at the pool held by her foreign pink hair as a scene came into view. It was much like a movie the way the dark blue and blackness merged to create dull images.

She was an invisible spectator looking from above into a room of some sort, a medical room of some type. There was a large table with a man lying on top strapped down by chakra infused bindings, and he was screaming. He was screaming unwilling screams that he tried to muffle making the bluish-black scene all the more horrible. The man's face was twisted in agony, his body trying to escape its bindings as men surrounded him with needles and metal objects that punctured his flesh with no mercy. Suddenly his screams stopped and the man glared up at her...

Sakura's hand went to her mouth, a sob-gag escaping from her as two different colored eyes, one red and the other dark brown, stared scornfully, maliciously up at her. Death was in his eyes. A sense that he yearned, desired for her demised swept through her body like a thousand knifes and the numbness that covered her body intensified that pain.

This time she heard herself scream, and with that the world went dark.

&&&

Early that morning, Sakura screamed herself awake, throwing her body up from her covers gripping them tightly to her chest like some little child afraid of the monsters in the closet. She gulped for air, but no matter how hard she gulp she couldn't breath. Her lungs painfully clenched together, and for a moment a wave of panic swept through Sakura's body; her eyes went wide as she began to trash around her bed feeling a great need to run outside. Anything! Anything for clean air to once again be in her lungs.

Placing her face into her hands Sakura prayed for equilibrium to return, for some sense of reality. It was only a dream...Only a dream...She really wanted to believe that, but some feeling, some gut feeling told her otherwise. Sakura wanted to laugh in her fear, at her outrageous thoughts, but no laugher came.

Stumbling to the bathroom, Sakura soaked her face in cold water warmer than her fear and gazed into the mirror. Wide green eyes stared back at her, empty and sinfully clear much like emerald pools in a subterranean cave.

Slowly her breath returned to normal and she closed her eyes. It was all too strange, the dream. Was it real? Fake? A figment of her imagination? Who was the man with mismatched eyes glaring at her with eyes so full of hatred that they still burned her heart? If she were to guess she would say that the man looked a great deal like...

Sakura shook her head a dry laugh escaping her throat. "Girl, you're imagining things...Stop it!"

Heaving in a battered breath Sakura rubbed her eyes and laid back into bed. She was tired yet unable to sleep. It had been three days since Kakashi's reappearance, and despite her convictions that night at the bar those simple, extraordinary things never ceased to bother her. Kakashi's image of insanity had still yet to disappear completely from her mind's eye. She wanted to avoid him, she wanted to act normal around him, but at the same time she wanted to ask him about...something she had yet to place her finger on.

Sakura very well knew that she couldn't go up to him and blatantly ask: "Oh, Kakashi! I noticed that you looked quite insane the other day. Mind telling me what's that about?" or "Kakashi, you seem to be a little too casual if you know what I mean. Why are you acting too casual?"

When she knew Kakashi all those years ago, Sakura always noted that the man loved people who got straight to the point, the ones who weren't invasive in their questionings, but really there had to be a standard. And Sakura wasn't quite sure how Kakashi would react to those questions. Years back he probably would have laughed, patted her head, and told her that her female mind was running away with her, but now he was different. She was positive of that. Not in the sense that people change with age and time; different in the sense that he was different; a personality that warped into something completely and utterly foreign.

And Sakura had no idea what to do.

Avoidance would be suspicious. Voicing her thoughts to Tsunade would be useless. Talking to Naruto would end up with both of them laughing and talking about something of a different topic. Sasuke would blink at her and tell her that she was working too much and then force her to take a break. Talking to Kakashi's old buddy-buddy gang would leave her feeling stupid since they, the people who knew Kakashi best, would say that they hadn't noticed anything wrong at all. And Shizune...well, Sakura didn't really want to broche the topic of the woman's ex-lover with her.

Shikamaru was an option, but he left the day before on some week long mission.

_"Girl, you should just forget about it!"_ Her inner voice advised sagely, but the weird thing was the she couldn't.

She physically, mentally, couldn't forget about it. It was always there at the back of her mind, and it terrified her. Her! She hadn't feared anything since she was eighteen years old. Yes she was cautious, but never scared like she was now. Around Kakashi she was aware, very aware of everything that took place. She was aware of the way his hands moved, the way his body sloughed a little too low. She was so aware that it reminded her of a mission where she had to follow the enemy and watch for his movements in case she need to defend herself.

Laughing and playfully hitting her head, Sakura pushed herself from her sheets and looked out the window. The day looked cold. Stray autumn leaves decorated the streets, and when Sakura touched the window it burned cold on her hand. Even the buildings seemed cold as their usually bright colors were somewhat faded.

"Great," Sakura whispered to herself.

Fall had finally come to Konoha, its chill anyway. Summer was gone and winter was coming ever closer, and for some odd reason Sakura felt as though a climax, something big was in its advent. In fall, death took on many wondrous forms. It was a morbid thought, but beautiful and magical in its own right.

Pulling her fingers from the cold glass Sakura turned her eyes to her digit clock that remained quite in the corner, where her night table rested. The red numbers burned into her corneas, and for a moment everything stilled in poetic motion.

In that stillness dread and anxiety and something far greater filled her heart, but before Sakura could react, the stillness, like a flight of fancy, fled leaving her empty and unaware of her surroundings for a sort period of time.

"I think I need more sleep." Sakura mused digging the heel of her hand into her forehead and closing her eyes. "I must be going crazy. Really."

&&&

Tenten's and Sakura's eyes both looked up from their shared plate of dangos when a small group entered the busy restaurant. Then, on seeing who was in the group, Sakura felt an urge to lower herself into the bench so that no one could see her. Tenten noticed, of course, and gave her an appraising look, but said nothing merely waving her stick with a single dango left on it back and forth clearly amused at her friend's reaction.

"Don't say anything, Tenten," Sakura growled out looking at the weapons' mistress.

The other woman laughed making her appearance brighter and fuller than before. "Are you trying to hide from Gai-sensei? He really isn't that bad," she mused half-heartedly.

"I'm not afraid of him," the pink kunoichi answered quickly looking at the group, "besides he isn't even with them."

Tenten shook her head making her braid swinging with the motion; something which could not have been done when she was younger since Tenten's hair style back then was always in those two buns on the side of her head. Sakura liked the change in her friend. The hair style looked good on her, and God knows that Hyuuga Neji needed all the help he could get to become less dense about his feelings. Sakura still prayed for the day when Tenten would quit settling for sex with the prodigy and force him into marriage. Well force was a little bit too strong of a word, but the weapon's mistress deserved better than just nights.

"Why are you so fidgety then? Did Naruto piss you off again or something? I could give you an excellent weapon for revenge," she tapped her index finger against her lips. "Ah, I have one in mind already, Sakura. Would you like to hear?"

Sakura sweat dropped putting her hands before her and shaking her head. Really the girl jumped to conclusions too fast, faster than her.

"No it's nothing like that, Tenten." Sakura laughed. "I think I'm just tired..."

_And because Kakashi is in the same vicinity as you are_, inner Sakura chimed much in contrast to Sakura's reason.

But she couldn't help but glance over to where the small group of older shinobi was sitting and sigh when she saw that Kakashi wasn't paying her any attention. That was good. She really didn't want to talk to him right now, not when her nerves were frayed and scrambled.

"I think you should cut down your hours at the hospital. I swear as much as I respect the Hokage, she really works you to the bone." Tenten supplied laying her head on her hands and staring at Sakura with clear, bright eyes. Sakura laughed nervously shaking her head.

"No, no it's not that bad. Most medics have to work my hours, especially medics who are heavily relied on."

"Like you?" Tenten teased. Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"Tease if you want to, but who here gets to go on Anbu missions?"

Tenten pointed at Sakura and laughed.

"But not for long. I'm going to pass those exams next month. I have to! I've been training with Gai, Neji, and Shino, and I swear if I don't pass I might go on a killing spree. Do you know what it's like to train with those men?" Tenten growled out in frustration.

She almost looked like she wanted to bang her head on the table, and Sakura really didn't feel like having attention on her right now. She got that enough with Naruto.

"I can imagine your pain," Sakura patted Tenten on the arm, "but please don't go on a killing spree because that would mean more work for me, and if you did that then I would have to kill you and then no one would be happy."

Crossing her arms, calm once again, Tenten nodded sagely. "Ah, you're right about that, Sakura-chan."

After asking for the check Tenten suddenly exclaimed that she had forgotten about a previous appointment, left her half of the bill, and rushed out of the restaurant leaving Sakura completely alone. The pink haired medic really didn't care,and was about to leave when someone called out her name. Someone by the name of Genma, a very flirtatious and handsome man that she loved to be around because of comedic antidotes. Long ago Genma had ceased to flirt with her, much to Sakura's happiness, and now the two of them were fast friends.

"Oi, Sakura! How long have you been here?" Genma asked lightly.

Sakura froze. A million things raced through her mind in that fraction of a second she used to turn around and face the shinobi who used to be her senseis, but all her thoughts were focused on one thing: Kakashi and her desire not to see him. Why did everything she want never happen? She was a medic. She saved lives. So why did bad things happen to good, smart people like her?

"I was just leaving. My lunch break is over," Sakura said patting her stomach laughing a little in anxiety. She avoided Kakashi's eye, but felt it on her all the while.

Genma patted the open seat beside him moving the silver senbon in his mouth from the left to the right as he smiled. "Nah, you've got time. Come on and sit down. Have a drink, it's on me."

"Please," Kurenai stated titling her head, "I could use female company."

Immediately Sakura's eyes turned towards Anko, the other female of the group. She was sitting a little ways off with her knee propped up onto the bench eating dangos without a care in the world.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. Leave it to Anko never to take offense to anything with her favorite dangos in front of her. The feisty women, a devil if you weren't nice or respectful to her but an altogether fun-loving woman that vaguely reminded Sakura of a meaner Naruto, merely waved a dismissing hand at Kurenai.

"Yes, Sakura, please join us."

Asuma laughed snubbing his cigarette out and gaining Sakura's attention next. "What she means is that she wants you to make Genma stop flirting with her. She's getting a little antsy."

In a distant voice Anko rebuked the statement with a, "I never get antsy you ass-hole, but I wouldn't mind if Sakura captured Genma's attention, the man is annoying me."

"Ouch, Anko, why do you have to be so cruel to me?" Genma replied winking up a Sakura and patting the seat next to him.

Sakura was about to refused again when Kakashi spoke up. "Sit, Sakura. I haven't seen you in ages."

Kakashi was smiling underneath his mask, and for a long time, or seemingly so, Sakura felt as though she couldn't move. Her limbs froze. The junctions in her muscles and bones ceased to move all because he smiled. It reminded Sakura of her trashy romance novels the way everything seemed to tunnel, the way her breath was stole from her breast, the tingling feeling of a paralyzed body, but this wasn't one of her romance novels. This was something completely different. He was too happy. Kakashi, if possible, was too happy. Too everything. Kakashi wasn't supposed to be too anything. He was supposed to be a middle ground in everything, and if he was a "too" something he hid it with his bad habits and carefree attitude.

Yet here she was staring like an idiot at a too happy Kakashi, and she was terrified. Genma was saying something, but Sakura heard none of his muted voiced droning off in the distance. Then it, that flash, happened so fast that her body reacted violently by instinct alone starling her and everyone present. Even Anko looked up from her dangos.

"Sakura..." Kurenai began reaching out her hand. "Are you okay?"

Forcing herself to smile, Sakura nodded in the affirmative. She wanted to scream at all of them, point her finger at Kakashi, and say "Didn't any of you see it? You must have! You must have seen his eye," but in the end she kept her mouth shut less she be placed under numerous psychological tests.

"Of course, I guess something startled me."

"You're just easily frightened, twerp." Genma added causally moving the senbon in his mouth.

Then something snapped her in brain. A realization that she was being scared by something so stupid and insignificant…scared by Kakashi no less. No! She wasn't frightened of anything especially a certain ex-sensei of hers. Who cared if what she saw a moment ago was true or false. What did it have to do with her? Nothing, absolutely nothing. And Sakura wasn't scared of nothing.

Raising her head a little Sakura pinned her green eyes on Kakashi and nodded firmly. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go. If Tsunade-sama sees that I've been gone for too long she'll have my head, and if you all haven't noticed I rather like my head."

The group laughed and she along with them never taking her eyes off Kakashi as the white haired shinobi turned to talk to Asuma to ask if Gai was going to show up or not. Sakura didn't stay to hear the answer as she walked out of the door. And as she walked out side and saw the dark clouds in the distance she knew for a fact that insanity had sparked for that fraction of a second in Kakashi's dark eye.

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Yet she was no longer afraid of that insanity. She was angry at herself for fearing such a thing, and from that anger an idea formed in her mind. It might be a dangerous undertaking, but what was life worth living if it didn't have any danger to it?

Thunder drummed off in the distance from the dark, haunted clouds that grew closer by the minute, but Sakura took no notice. She made up her mind right then and there: _she_ would be the one to find the cause of that insanity or whatever else was the cause for her ex-sensei to be "too" much of something.

**A/N:** Yay! I'm finally done with this chapter. I have been working on it for ages because I couldn't get anything I liked down on my computer. I know it's short, but at least it's something, ne?

I hope everyone somewhat enjoyed it. And remember if ya'll are going to flame me, do it in an adult fashion.

**Felix02**


	4. Visitation

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. If I did then the fillers would stop and I would hurry up and make all the characters grow up so I could make Kakashi and Sakura be together.

Since fan fiction no longer allows for us authors to reply to our reviews in our stories, I'll just have to thank everyone here. I usually only respond via the cool little reply button thingy when a review has capture my attention or asks me a question - just in case ya'll are wondering. But thank you so much too every single one of you reviewers out there for leaving me such beautiful and inspiring comments. They really do help to pump me up especially since a lot of you out there have said this story is a both a horror and suspense fic.

Those comments made me smile because I never had that intention for this story, it just sort of happened. I'm more of a romance author than anything, so hearing those comments filled me with lots and lots of happiness.

As well, thank you to those readers who haven't reviewed or do not review, but stick with my story nevertheless.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago, and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

Warning: This chapter is unedited, but I will go back over it very soon and correct everything to the best of my ability.

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

She had to be crazy. Did she want to die?

No, Sakura thought in retrospect, she wanted to live. She wanted to live her life as the medic-nin she was and maybe have a husband and children some time in the future. A white picket fence, a moderate sized house with a green lawn, filled with flowers, and two dogs that her children adored was one future she had in mind; the other was a more independent and free lifestyle of a kunoichi. But walking up the stairs of the Jounin Housing Residence Sakura felt as though both would be quite out of her reach in the near future. Or as soon as she knocked on Kakashi's door.

Bitting her lower lip Sakura shifted her weight around both feet and regarded Kakashi's door for the longest time. She felt like an idiot, and more than once did she raise her hand ready to knock only to lower it in the next instant feeling her determination and fearlessness waver. She glared at the tiny peep whole in the door and growled. Her mother would have called it an unlady- like action, but Sakura could have cared less. She hated acting like a lady...Well not really, but what was so hard about knocking at an ex-sensei's door?

Oh, right...

She would be intruding into private matters of the heart, if one could call it so. She would probably be making a fool of herself, and she was treading on uncharted ground. No one that she knew ever, in her knowledge, went up to Kakashi and demanded answers about his life. Even when Team Seven tried to de-mask him all those years ago they never directly asked him what he looked like under his mask until they were pushed to the very edge of sanity, and then they were in a group of people meaning that they were less likely to be killed. Though Sakura was quite positive that Kakashi would never do such a thing the dread was still present.

A cold wind blew through the apartment complex having Sakura tug her medic jacket tighter around her body to keep warm. It was especially cold today for fall weather, and Sakura didn't know whether to take that as a bad omen or not. Naruto was the one who was into signs and omens and other type of whimsical fantasies, and while she had her own beliefs they were not outrageous and childish like Naruto's own.

Shaking her head Sakura rid herself of any further thoughts and raised her fist up to knock. The sound of hitting wood that had nothing but air behind it rang in her ears as loud as any gong and she cringed into herself. It was like knocking on death's door three times. Maybe she was being dramatic...Yes she was being overly dramatic, but as her heart pounded widely against her rib cage, as she felt her pulse pick up until she thought her heart would gush out of her throat, Sakura knew she could forgive herself for being so this once.

She waited for what seemed like minutes. Nothing happened. Time seemed to pass with a lazily slowness, and her vision and senses tunneled till nothing but the door was felt and seen.

"Sakura!" the flamboyant voice startled her making her jump, scream a little, and accidentally hit the man who greeted her a little too hard.

Her eyes were closed as she felt the impact of her fist against a clothed, vested chest, and when she opened them she immediately felt a wave of guilt. Gai was currently plastered onto the ground holding his head and then shaking it as if to rid himself of the pain.

Falling to her knees Sakura apologized. "I'm so sorry, Gai! You startled me. I didn't mean to hit you."

Even if Gai was annoying as hell, he was a nice man who Sakura adored because he made her laugh. Not only that but just like his pupil, Rock Lee, he was loyal to the core of his being. As if to prove her thoughts of him, Gai only took up the good guy pose and laughed.

"That was quite some punch, Sakura-chan. I must applaud Tsunade-sama later for her excellent training abilities. The flower of youth and beauty never ceases to amaze me; to see the skills of one generation be handed to another..." By this time Sakura swore his eyes were tearing up, "It's just too beautiful for me to stand!"

"Aren't you being a little over dramatic, Gai?" Sakura asked unable to keep from smiling. "And do you need me to do anything for you? I did give you a rather nasty punch, and I'm not a medic nin for nothing, you know." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry again."

Looking back, Sakura was sure the two of them made a comical pair. Both on the ground in front of Kakashi's apartment, one gushing out apologizes and the other talking of the beauty of forgiveness and that youth was such a swift yet wonderful time for forgiveness to blossom and grow.

"Your kindness and consideration are appreciated, Sakura-chan, since they make you all the more beautiful, but I must decline your offer." He patted his chest. "I'm not hurt in the least, I'll survive."

Sakura sighed as Gai continued his rant pleased that the man wasn't hurt, but some part of her wished that he was so he would stay quiet for once. Gai was making frayed nerves even more frayed, and her anxiety was building up so fast that Sakura couldn't help but hurriedly exclaim, "Gai! You're ranting," a little too harshly.

The older shinobi gave his good guy pose once more before calming down considerably and looked around as if finally coming to the realization of where she was - which was in a building that she did not live in, and in front of Kakashi's apartment. And since Gai was naturally curious, much like a good natured animal was, his couldn't help but ask:

"Sakura-chan, it is none of my business, but what are you doing here?"

Sakura gave an exasperated, anxious sigh before casting a glance at her ex-sensei's door.

"I was wondering if Kakashi was here. Do you know?"

"Kakashi is at HQ right now." Gai answered without any flashy words or phrases much to Sakura's surprise, but she nodded and thanked him for telling her so.

"You might try to find him there. A woman as beautiful as you always gets the answers she desires," he sighed. "It is yet another wonderful feature of youth, but one that must be used with caution and good virtue..."

"Thank you! Gai, but I have to be going now," Sakura smiled cheerfully. "My break is almost over, and I just wanted to say a quick hello-how-are-you to Kakashi."

If Sakura had been one to think ahead she would have known that that was the wrong thing to say to Gai, the Green Beast of Konoha, as he really couldn't keep quite about anything that wasn't specifically asked of him.

"Ah, yes work. Have fun my pink-haired friend, and try not to work too hard. Youth fades so fast, grasp it while you can." And with that he turned his back and walked away waving backwards as he turned the corner to go to his own apartment.

Green eyes closed in relief.

Deep inside Sakura was glad that Kakashi hadn't been home.

&&&

_"Sakura, please watch over this one class period for me!" Ino begged, her wide blue eyes shimmering in the afternoon light. Yes she looked especially cheerful today, almost glowing with happiness._

_Sakura growled, "You know I have my own work to do, Ino. Get one of the other teachers to do it."_

_She still couldn't believe that Ino had taken a position as an instructor at the Academy along side her other, more mature teaching job that consisted of teaching female chuunin different ninja tactics that men couldn't possibly use on other men...unless they swung that way. Truly, Sakura feared for the students at the Academy under Ino's hand, but that didn't mean she wanted to bear the responsibility for their instruction._

_"They can't! They are already busy with there own classes, and besides my class is learning about chakra and you're the best at explaining that aspect. Please," Ino begged again aiming at one of Sakura's few vanities, this one being her pride in her chakra control and understanding. She wasn't a medic nin for nothing._

_Sakura sighed looking down at her hands as they sat side by side on one many park benches. Tsunade would probably let her take a few hours off if it meant she would be doing another job, and days at the hospital had been slow recently. That and Ino really seemed serious about something this time, and since she was a friend Sakura couldn't deny Ino help. The blond haired kunoichi had done so for her numerous times in the past._

And that's how Sakura found herself breathing in a deep sigh of relief as the dismissal bell rang. In a rush of noise and fanfare the kids rushed out of the room, some out the window, without so much as a goodbye except for one little-goody-two-shoes girl with pig tails that reminded Sakura of herself back when she was in the Academy; the thought made her smile in return and wish the girl a good afternoon.

Rubbing her temples as soon as the room was covered in blissful silence, Sakura thought she may have understood Ino's desire to get away, or _one_ of them should she say. The news Ino had told her earlier was exciting and it made her smile like a fool.

Sakura wanted the best for her friend, and the news that Ino told her, her reason for wanting her to take over class for a little while, made her want to squeal like a little, hyper active girl again. Oh, she changed soon much from that Sasuke-fan girl she had once been that sometimes she couldn't believe that she had been that girl so long ago.

"Yo." someone said from the doorway.

Sakura jumped from her seat and turned around in a rush, fear rising in her throat from surprise and then continuing to intensify once she saw the owner of the voice.

"Kakashi," Sakura said dumbly regarding her ex-sensei leaning casually against the door way, his hand held up in a familiar greeting.

_What in seven hells is he doing here?!_ inner Sakura screeched running around.

Sakura felt like doing the same, just out the window and somewhere away from him. Shaking her muteness away along with her fear, Sakura forced a smile onto her face as Kakashi approached her casually.

Something...something was off as usual, but Sakura couldn't place it. His gait, posture, something was off and it was driving her mad. A pressure was clawing at her mind as if was trying to release some memory, some link that would answer her questions and make them obsolete, but the pressure was not forceful enough to give her that reprieve.

She coughed clearing her throat. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a strange, calculating, informal look. "Gai told me you wanted to talk to me."

_Shit!_ Why did she tell Gai what was none of his business when she always got in trouble for it? She shouldn't have trusted the green manic ever since that whole Neji episode where they both almost died at the hands of a really pissed off, out of character ex-student of his.

Sakura erupted in nervous laughter throwing a hand behind her head. "Oh, yes! I was at your apartment earlier today but you weren't home."

She laughed again opening her eyes to see his some what amused expression. It was nothing casual; in fact his appearance seemed normal now, at peace with his surroundings, and it made her ease up a little. His amusement reminded her of the many times back with Team Seven when he was tiredly amused with their antics.

It was a pleasant memory.

"I was at HQ," Kakashi said casually leaning against the desk up front crossing his arms look for the whole world as though he owned the place.

"That's what Gai told me, so I went back to work."

"Did you want to talk about anything, Sakura?"

His voice, though normal, put her on edge...She felt like it was almost mocking her, but that thought was crazy just like Kakashi was. No! No, Kakashi wasn't crazy. Maybe if she told herself that enough times she would believe it. Sakura mentally pounded her head laughing again.

"You know...just to say hi is all and," she breathed, "to see how you're doing being back in Konoha and all. It must feel good to be back at home from where ever you were."

This is it! She was going to die, but Kakashi merely chuckled softly distracting her for horrible, painful thoughts.

"You could say that, Sakura...You could say that," he stretched. "It is good being back home. At least I have my books now," he said pulling out an orange colored square. Sakura laughed at the familiar ground her offered her.

"You never seem to change," Sakura said lightly with a smile as Inner Sakura chanted _"Lies! Lies!"_ around her head.

He didn't respond. Sakura swallowed as the second hand from a nearby clock ticked in her ears. She laughed again to break the awkward silence.

"Well this is weird," Sakura informed him as he looked curiously over at her. She never had a problem voicing her thoughts since she was eighteen. Kakashi merely cocked his head to the side.

"You've changed, Sakura." He said with a voice that broke no room for argument. Sakura could only nod numbly feeling very aware of him and herself suddenly.

"Is that bad or good?"

"Good most likely, but it's _interesting_ as well." He answered with a shrug tapping his novel against his masked cheek.

Interesting...what the hell did he mean by that? But Sakura refused from asking because she knew she wouldn't get an answer. By the time she came to, Kakashi was regarding the room with an uninterested eye before turning to her.

"You teach?"

"No, I was sitting in for Ino since she had an appointment." Sakura said not giving away anything that Ino had told her to keep a secret over earlier.

Kakashi nodded. "She's pregnant, right?"

Sakura had been putting her things back into her bag when she froze at his comment, green eyes wide and suddenly fearful. She thanked God that her back was towards him. Should she say something? Should she say no and lie, because she was never good at lying on the spot and Kakashi would most likely catch her in her badly constructed web of deceit.

"What makes you say that?"

"So it's true," Kakashi said with an ever uninterested voice. "Shikamaru will be happy."

Anger suddenly rose within her. How dare he assume such things even though he was right. That arrogant, cocky... Fine! Whatever, he just better not say anything, which Sakura was sure he wouldn't. But still, it was the principle of the matter.

"Don't you dare say anything about it, okay." She spat at much to her surprise. Wasn't she supposed to be scared of him?

"Ino will have my head."

Kakashi chucked again walking to the door and smiled. It chilled her through and through.

"You're very interesting, Sakura-chan," he said stopping by the door and turning towards her with a casualness that seemed displaced.

And then he was gone.

What did he mean by that? The thought would occupy her for the rest of the night.

**A/N:** I know it's short, but at least I updated faster than I did last time. I hope ya'll somewhat enjoyed this chapter, and I know the story is moving kind of slow but it has to build up.

If you have any questions, criticisms or responses, I would love to hear them because they make me happy.

**Felix02**


	5. Reminiscence

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago, and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

Warning: There are some scientific terms in here that I've used; not all of them a 100 accurate, but most of them are. I just might have twisted some information around here and there, but basically what you read is true of the biological concepts that I wrote.

If you have any questions just ask. I'll give you a hint though: if you get what I'm talking about during that scene, some things might begin to clear up...or get more confusing. You never know.

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

A year and a half ago, a close friend of hers died in a tragic accident. The circumstances of his death, as well as the others working under him, was unknown; their facility destroyed completely.

He was a good man, young and handsome and intelligent. So very intelligent that sometimes Sakura still envied him, and it was because of his intelligence that he became world renown at the tender age of twenty for being one of the best bio-nins. His experiments were strange yet original, ingenuous, and his data never wrong.

Sakura had first met Akira when she was seventeen. He was twenty-two and still a raising star in the scientific world, much like she was in her own profession of science. When they were together they talked of nothing but human systems, experiments, medicines, and new theories of biological science. And then he just died, one day out of the blue.

Many suspected that one of his experiments took a wrong turn, that it became too volatile and exploded taking down his facility along with everyone in it. That had been a year and a half ago, and even now Sakura could hardly believe her friend was gone.

During the past seven years of their friendship, he had asked her for her opinions on a certain experiment he was working on; a way to increase human stamina and ability, to see how the body would react under stress to better understand the human physiology so that injured people could one day fully recover from some of the worst injuries.

She helped him as best she could going even so far as creating some of her own experiments for his use. He often took her advice, and thanked her with a huge smile each time.

Sakura remembered a time five years back when she discussed a new technique that she had been researching on dealing with the transfer of genes into living cells for repair purposes. He smiled at her then too and asked to hear more. Then asked if he could copy the technique, and she agreed. His smile was a smile that always seemed to hide something, but she was never bothered by it.

And as she stared at the crisp, blue sky above her from the roof top of the hospital, Sakura wished that the world had not lost such a wonderful man.

&&&

Sakura wasn't really surprised when she saw Kakashi at the memorial stone two days later; his white hair gleaming in the morning sun and hands in his pockets, but she was disappointed.

It had been routine for her since his pronounced death to visit the stone every Thursday morning to keep company with those shinobi who passed on honorably into the better realm. But seeing his slouched form, feeling his presence for a brief time made her think of forgoing her routine just for today.

Closing her eyes Sakura breathed in deeply the scent of trees and morning dew praying for strength at the same time. She didn't want to be frightened. She was sick of being cautious, she only wanted to be, and if that meant making herself stand Kakashi's company than so be it. The years taught Sakura that she couldn't avoid anything forever, and facing one's problems honestly was the best way to overcome them.

Still, she was hesitant.

Sakura felt a pull in both ways: towards him and away from him. But he made that decision for her by turning to greet her with an all too casual, now all too familiar, smile.

"Sakura," he nodded at her.

She echoed the motion with a, "Kakashi," coming slowly to stand next to him, but far enough away to provide her some comfort. If he noticed that the distance was the right amount for enemies to separate themselves during battle he didn't comment. Anyway, she did the action unknowingly.

The silence of the morning around them was awkward. A bird chirped from a nearby tree that was soon followed by three more chirps. The sun was gently rising faster over the tree tops, and a warm, dewy breeze found its way through the trees and hit her face in a pleasant hello. But yet the silence was still there; the silence amplified her awareness of Kakashi, would have done the same to his too everything, but strangely he seemed to be at peace.

Casting a furtive glance at him, Sakura was surprised to find him watching her and gasped.

"What?"

"You're different than I remember," he began after a few moments looking back at the memorial stone glittering gently, far too gently, in the early morning.

Sakura blinked.

"Why do you say that?" She shook her head. Of course she would be different; he'd been gone for eight years.

He kept his dark eye on the memorial stone. He too was different than before.

He was more...tame, in a way, less causal and more comfortable. He seemed complacent in his own skin where before Sakura thought she could almost see some presence, force, power trying to escape. The only way she could explain his difference was that he appeared fuller, and because of that subtle difference Sakura found herself even more worried than before.

The man who came back and the man who he was now were so starkly different that her breath was stolen from her. But she felt comfortable, safe when before she felt thrilled, frightened, and curious.

"The last time I saw you was eight years ago when I was sixteen." Sakura stated as though that explained it all to Kakashi who hummed in return.

"How does it feel being twenty-five, Sakura?" Kakashi asked turning to face her with a comforting smile in his eye.

It was a strange question that everyone was asked on their birthday, even stranger since today wasn't her birthday. Sakura arched an eyebrow and stared Kakashi straight in the eye. It was a feat to be proud of since that fullness which had been there early melted before her eyes.

Again he was the man who was different from the ex-sensei she had known, but who wore the same face. Deep down Sakura knew that he was Kakashi, but some emotion told her to think otherwise.

"Do you remember being my age?" she asked after a moment.

"Vaguely," Kakashi nodded his, brown eye never leaving her own.

His full attention was focused on her. It was polite, it was kind, it was dangerous; predators too never let their eyes leave their prey, and Sakura felt like prey under his sharp, lazy eye.

Sakura smiled. The thing to do in these situations was to act normal; she didn't want Kakashi to know of her fear and uncertainty because she was a kunoichi. She was used to much worse.

"Then, Kakashi, remind me to tell you about how it feels to be twenty-five once you no longer remember."

He laughed an unrestrained, gentle laugh that made his strangeness almost normal. Common normal. Made her remember the past, their missions, him saving her life on many occasions, his words of wisdom that he imparted onto Naruto and Sasuke but never her; her bitterness over that time had since faded, but the scars would ever remain from her younger years when people, except Naruto, thought her an invalid.

Tearing her eyes off the white-haired shinobi, Sakura knelt before the stone gently tracing her fingers over a familiar name of a man that she'd never before met, of a boy who died before her birth, and willed herself not to look back at Kakashi.

"Uchiha Obito..." Sakura breathed out softly feeling Kakashi make no move behind her. "He was one of your special people, right?"

"Once," he replied, but his voice was distant. It almost sounded as if he were far away, across an ocean yelling amidst a sea storm

The wind picked up hissing cautiously in her ear as if to warn her of something. She knew the story of Kakashi's tragic boyhood; Tsunade, on one of her drunken story telling times, began to suddenly blurt out about Kakashi's boyhood - of his father, his friends, and his sensei, the fourth Hokage. She should have turned a deaf ear to it all, but at that time Kakashi had just been proclaimed officially dead after two years of being labeled MIA, so she hadn't seen any harm in listening.

Now, for some reason, she felt bad knowing about his past. It was like reading someone's diary or searching through their house, violating their privacy and taking their secrets to their own hearts out of mere curiosity, not care.

Why was she even speaking his sacred name out loud, Sakura thought rationally blinking away the fuzz in her brain, when Kakashi was right behind her? What right did she have to speak of Obito in front of him? But the words spilled from her mouth easily, and Sakura wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but when she turned around her heart dropped dreadfully, hanging in her chest heavily.

Kakashi was no longer behind her.

&&&

"It's a real shame he died," Shizune sighed fingering through a few medical files in her hands, "he was quite the looker too."

Sakura was currently on the ground of the hospital's basement floor. Hundreds of dim lights hung from railings above the cramped yet lengthy underground level which held all the medical files of patients and packets of other information. Hundreds of thousands of scrolls were packed tightly in rows of shelves, and it was currently Sakura's job to find a scroll that dealt with the fusion of cells grown in culture that could help with repair of certain injuries.

It had been one of the last experiments Akira published, though he wrote that it was not perfect yet. She had helped him come up with the experiment; she had even gone to his lab and helped him for about two days, and Tsunade had gladly let her go for that short time.

"Yes, Akira was a huge loss to us all." Sakura replied her voice muffled because she was looking down at hundreds of scrolls, files, and journals stocked on different selves.

Shizune placed a hand on her pink haired colleague's shoulder. Surprised Sakura looked up into the understanding eyes of a close female friend.

"You loved him, didn't you?"

Sakura turned back to the files she was flipping through, whiter and crisper than the others since they were newer, when she stopped placing the papers in her hands onto her lap. She shook her head.

"I don't know what love is, Shin-chan. I liked being around him - he was intelligent, funny, kind. I was attracted to him - yes I will admit that I was very attracted to Akira, but I did not love him." Sakura finished smiling up at Shizune who looked doubtfully down at her.

She did not love him Sakura thought truthfully to herself; never had the thought ever popped into her mind until Shizune said something. To be honest, as much as she was attracted to Akira, she couldn't picture a life with him because he had been too similar to her. Too...too...Sakura pushed that thought away from her mind.

"Tsunade was taking bets with Kanpou about when you two would get together. Of course, she lost."

A flame of indignation rose within the rosette haired girl, but due to a few breathing exercises Sakura pushed that discomfort down.

"As always," Sakura said as she came upon yet another wrong scroll. Where in the world had she filed Akira's publication? "Damnit, Shizune! I can't find it."

"Someone steal it?" the other joked placing the files in her own arms back in their proper places.

"You memorized his work upside down, Sakura. Don't worry about it. I'm sure you can do without the information."

Sakura nodded standing and wiping her black medic pants off.

"Yes, I know. I just wanted to read it over again." Sakura placed her index finger to her lips in thought.

"It's just strange. When I read it, his experiment turned out to be a little different from when I was helping him with it. He seemed to take a different path, and while it was interesting, I really could see no point in him taking those few extra steps."

"In his cell culture?" Shizune paused thinking over what she just said. "Wasn't he trying to grow skin and red blood cells? That's what his publication was over."

"Yes, he was," Sakura nodded thanking Shizune for holding the door open for her, "but he also was growing axons."

"Nerve cells? That's impossible! They don't divide, they're G0 cells." Shizune exclaimed stopping to stare at Sakura who kept walking towards the elevator.

"What could he possibly want with axons?" Sakura shrugged punching a button near the metal doors hearing a familiar light blink on.

"He was a genius. I think with time he could have done something amazing. If I had the time, I have wanted continue with his experiment, but my lab days are over for now. As for your question," Sakura paused as the shinny doors opened and both women stepped in, "you must ask yourself what one can find in axons that would be useful for repair."

After a moment understanding dawned in the older woman's eyes, "Microfilaments."

"Precisely," Sakura stated with a quick nod.

"Or at least that's my conclusion. He was trying to find ways of help people with health problems, and filaments are useful structures. Growing them in culture and then, theoretically, implanting them or their genes into cells could help with many things."

"Like readjusting the lens of an eye for vision purposes," Shizune said playfully nudging Sakura in the ribs making the other girl frown playfully. "Amazing, but I don't think he was the only genius around."

"What?" Sakura didn't understand. What did Shizune mean by that?

The older woman sighed exasperatedly.

"You know, Sakura, sometimes you can be really slow."

"Oh," Sakura blushed. _She_ was the other genius Shizune was talking about. It was too funny to believe.

"My subtlety is never wasted on you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura grunted angrily, "Your sarcasm isn't appreciated, Shin-chan."

"I know, but I like doing it anyway."

&&&

"You talked to Kakashi today," Sakura stated looking up from her grocery list at Naruto who nodded.

Guilt assailed her senses, but Sakura pushed the emotion back. She should apologize to him for what she did, said earlier; it was quite unnecessary to bring up old wounds.

"Yep, Sasuke and I did a couple of hours ago at HQ. I wanted to spar with him, but he didn't have the time for it." Naruto explain with a grumpy look on his face.

Clearly he was upset by the refusal. Sakura smiled patting him on the shoulder as he grabbed some milk and put it in her basket.

"He probably lied to - Hey, Naruto! I don't drink that kind of milk."

"I do, though."

"You need to eat at your own place, Naruto, and stop mooching off of me." Sakura emphasized her point by jutting her finger into Naruto's chest painfully.

Naruto swung an arm over Sakura's shoulders.

"We should just live together, Sakura. What do you think?"

"I think Hinata would come out of that shell of hers and kick my ass," Sakura said shrugging off Naruto's arm in friendly disgust. "Plus, you would make me do all your laundry, and that is just something that I cannot allow."

Naruto complained for quite awhile as they migrated through the grocery store until Sakura put a stop to it with a few well placed punches. He then took his leave telling her that she was being too violent today, and that Hinata would be off work in a few and that he wanted to take her out to lunch, which meant ramen.

Sakura sighed as she watched her blond haired friend walk out of the store feeling sorry for Hinata. The girl must be sick of ramen by now. She could only thank God for sending Naruto such a patient girl.

Lifting her grocery list to her eyes, Sakura marked off the last of her items suddenly feeling melancholy. It was one of those occasions where she felt lonely and left out. Everyone had someone: Naruto had Hinata, Ino had Shikamaru, Kurenai had Asuma, and, after careful, in-depth research, Anko had Genma.

It was a bit scary to think about it, but they seemed happy...or least they did when Genma wasn't flirting with other women in front of Anko. They seemed to have a strange relationship indeed, one that involved the term "as long as I didn't see it, I won't be mad about it."

And she was alone.

Point was everyone had someone except her. Sasuke even had a dog; she lived in an apartment which didn't allow animals. Life wasn't fair.

She hated feeling so pitiful, but sometimes Sakura liked to wallow in self-pity as horrible as that sounded. The feelings never lasted long, and she would never admit it, but she did feel lonely. She wanted someone to lie next to at night. She wanted someone told hold her close after a rough day at work. She wanted someone to just listen to her unconditionally and not even respond back, just squeeze her hand to tell her that he was there for her. She wanted to be loved, as is natural for any human being to yearn for.

She had never really had a boyfriend in all her years, and as Ino put, it was pitiful and sad. How old was she? Far too old to have never truly experienced a relationship.

But something had always been in the way. She had either been too busy or no one was interested, or the other way around. Ever since she got over Sasuke, Sakura had been afraid to feel for someone again. Deep down she feared becoming the way she used to be, an invalid.

She wanted and didn't want someone, and Sakura detested her indecisiveness. She wanted more than just sex from a relationship, she wanted depth.

Sakura was so caught up in her thoughts that she never noticed she was about to round a corner when she suddenly bumped into someone. Crashing against something hard and warm, Sakura was about to lose her footing when hands wound their way on her arms stabilizing her.

Clutching her groceries to her chest, Sakura looked up only to see one, dark eye looking at her. Her breathe caught, a coldness erupting from deep within her heart. She felt like screaming, crying, and extreme need to get away. For some reason, beyond her knowledge, she felt guilt, more so than earlier, tear through her body because she was looking into Kakashi's only visible eye and viewed something so terrifying that she couldn't even begin explain it.

He looked down at her and immediately the expression vanished taking her feelings along with it. His eye warmed, calmed, seemed to be placid as his hand tightened around her arms for a fraction of a second before letting go.

Sakura was too dazed to answer, so he talked for her. He was smiling.

"Not looking where you were going, Sakura?"

Smiling.

"No..." she answered.

He was holding an orange book in his hand.

"Neither was I. Looks like we were both at fault then."

He was...normal, Sakura realized. Had she imagined the scene before? Had her guilt from earlier that morning messed with her that much? She saw him looking at her groceries.

"I just went shopping. Naruto ate all my food," Sakura rolled her eyes. "He said he wanted to live with me..."

Something flashed in his eye, but Sakura paid no heed to it.

"...but I refused saying Hinata would beat my ass if he did."

"Hmm, that would be a sight to see." he mused casually.

"But not fun for me," Sakura grumbled glaring up at him in good humor.

For some reason, she wanted to talk with him as he was now. For some insane reason, she felt pulled to him, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. What happened to her fear, her wariness? Yet she felt an urge deep inside her calling her to do something, and it was more disturbing than anything she had seen in Kakashi. It warned yet fascinated her till imagination and reality collided.

"I'm sure you would come out alive, Sakura. I _know _you would."

He looked at her so strangely, almost possessively, that she could only smile. And as much as she wanted to stay, the thought of fleeing never left her mind.

**A/N: **Sorry about the last part of this chapter, it was rather badly done. Thank you to all my reviewers and readers. Your comments make me have that extra boost to go on. I'm really enjoying writing this story. I just have so many ideas that it excites even me!

**Felix02**


	6. Time

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

I would like to thank everyone for all your support over these past few chapters. They really do mean the world to me.

Warning: Not really edited. I did my best so sorry for any grammar mistakes.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago, and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

The small, brown puppy kicked at the hard wood floor of Sasuke's private dojo as Sakura rubbed a sensitive spot behind its ear. Sending a quick-silver smile to her silent friend, who stopped in his training to look over at her, Sakura laughed.

"I'm going to steal her from you one day, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said mightily motioning at the dog in her lap.

"You will not," he paused, "…besides, your apartment won't allow it."

Sakura huffed, but smiled again as Sasuke returned to his training ignoring her at the same time. Time spent with Sasuke was starkly different than time spent with Naruto. For one, not a lot of words were passed between them; it was a more solitary, quite friendship that people evolved over time because they became comfortable with the other's presence.

Letting Puyo go Sakura regarded Sasuke's private dojo while silently cursing the rich. She often came here for peace. Sasuke never seemed to mind, and she did like spending time with the silent Uchiha. No matter if he had his dog now Sakura did not want her friend to be lonely; though Sasuke would always vehemently deny such an accusation.

If it was up to her, Sakura would have played match maker for her brooding, handsome friend, but she did not think any woman in the world was ready for him yet. He was intense, too intense for women that wanted him in that way. True he had changed since his darker times, but wounds of that magnitude took many years to heal. As well, Sakura wasn't sure if Sasuke could give a woman what she wanted, needed.

Now she wasn't an expert in the art of loving making, especially love making with Sasuke, but she had heard more than she would have liked to have in the public baths with Ino at her side.

The blond haired girl laughed as Sakura cringed as she over heard conversations over Sasuke's late night adventures. From those conversations she had learned that Sasuke was "great" in bed, and she didn't doubt that he would be able to satisfy a woman in that sense, but he was lacking in other areas that were necessary for a true, loving relationship.

That's why she bought him a dog, much to his chagrin. He had made a wonderfully pathetic argument on why he couldn't have a dog, but in the end she won the conflict, as usual. And as much as Sasuke complained about Puyo, Sakura knew he loved the dog.

With a sigh Sakura decided that he would probably end up as one of those jaded, shinobi bastards that thought they were better than everyone. Therefore, since she loved him as a brother, it was up to her to stop such things from coming into place. As hard as it would be, she was never one to back down from a challenge.

"Sakura," Sasuke began stopping his training and looking at the far wall.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun." she chirped back grabbing Puyo who had wandered near her again.

"I don't like that smile on your face."

"Oh?" Sakura mused playing with his puppy. "...So cute. What do you mean by that comment?"

He turned, walked towards her, squatted till he reached her eye level, and touched the sides of her lips to bring her smile down to a frown.

Sakura patted his hands away from her face. The action that would have made her have a heart attack when she was younger now only succeeded in annoying her very much. After hitting his hands away, Sakura glared up at Sasuke, who smirked slightly in return taking Puyo from her hands and in his own arms. It was one of the strangest scenes Sakura would ever witness: a broody Unchiha with a cute, little puppy in his arms.

"That smile means you're thinking of something that has to do with me, and I don't like it. Last time you smiled like that I ended up with Puyo." He said turning away from Sakura and allowing Puyo to roam in another, nearby room. She tried to bark cutely a few times as she found something that interested her.

"And look what good has come of it! You make it sound like it was a bad idea." Sakura laughed walking next to Sasuke and patting him on the shoulder.

"Puyo is nothing but trouble. She shits everywhere." Sasuke informed her in an ever deadpanned voice.

An image of an angry, frustrated Uchiha picking up droppings of his cute puppy quickly came to mind, but now was not the time to laugh. Laughing would come later. Leaning more on one foot, Sakura brought her hand to her lips in a thinking mode.

"Sasuke," she began slowly, "I'm sure you used to poop everywhere when you were little."

"That's completely different, Sakura."

If he had been a lesser man, maybe like Naruto, Sakura was sure he would have yelled. Sasuke looked so adorably disgruntled, however, that Sakura couldn't refrain from laughing.

"If you are thinking of doing anything to me in the future," Sasuke warned, "I'll make you pay for it."

"How?" Sakura laughed.

"I'll tell Gai that you want to know about all the mysterious of youth. I hear he is writing a book," Sasuke informed with an alarming smile. Sakura growled at him.

"That's harsh, Sasuke. Very harsh. But if you do that than I'm going to tell everyone about the cute, little puppy that you have...And I have pictures! Lots of pictures!"

Sasuke sulked.

Yep, another win. Who needed to fight when words were so much crueler?

&&&

She had to be imagining things again.

For the past week, it felt as though someone was following her, but every time she tried to look for the culprit nothing was to be found.

It must have been her nerves. Kakashi had frayed them beyond belief and thus messed with her entire equilibrium - that had to be it Sakura concluded walking to a nearby store.

The feelings she had were never malicious; they never had any ill intent. If the feelings were real and not imaginary, then they were more watchful than anything. The heavy presence made her feel safe as much as if made her feel violated.

Walking into the store, the feeling vanished.

&&&

_Three Weeks Later_

"Train with me," the question was so random it caught her off guard. "It will be _fun_."

Looking up Sakura wanted to say that this conversation was not happening, that it was only a dream, but she was awake and this was reality. Hatake Kakashi wanted to train with her?

Why?

Naruto, Sasuke, or even Gai were better choices for a match than she. Not that Sakura thought herself weak in anyway, because she certainly was not, but those were usually the people to spar casually with. No one had ever asked her to spar with them unless some major exam was coming up and they wanted her to use medical justus on them.

Currently, Sakura was sitting in for Ino again since she had another appointment because of her new condition, but as far as she knew no one but Tsunade and some other medics knew where she was going to be that day. How did Kakashi know she was here?

The thought put her on edge a little, but due to an over active imagination Sakura merely made her reason intervene and say that he just happened to pass the school, visiting Iruka or some other person, and spied her. Anything was possible.

"Fun," Sakura snorted feeling his calmly exposed eye on her. "I don't know about that, Kakashi."

Two weeks ago, she began to feel more at peace in his presence much in fact due to she began to spend more time with him. Kakashi seemed to appear everywhere she was nowadays, and Sakura noticed something quite interesting:

With her Kakashi seemed to be more at peace than he had before, very calm and almost normal. There was still a ringing sensation when he was near, when he said something that sounded a little out of place, but it was becoming more and more common for her to feel at ease around him. Had she been taking things overboard? Had his death and then return messed with her nerves and mind that much?

Yet Sakura remained cautious, a feeling inside telling her to be so no matter what he may have appeared like on the outside.

"I'm sure you need the exercise," Kakashi said stuffing his hands in his pockets, smiling.

"Are you saying I'm fat!" Sakura said jumping on her feet and glaring at the man before her.

He looked too smug for his own good in her opinion. She should show him how much she could beat his sorry ass, but the thought of sparring with Kakashi sent jolts spinning her in both excitement and terror.

A flash of insanity that she had first seen in him came to mind making Sakura all the more weary. She could easily say no to him, reject him, but something in his eyes, some power or force, was pulling her to say yes.

"You're putting words into my mouth, Sakura." Kakashi warned harmlessly.

"You implied it, Kakashi."

"Why are women so sensitive? It's good to gain a little weight," he said casually smiling down at her. It depressed her at their height difference, but it was something that she would have to put up with.

Sighing in irritated fashion and knowing that Kakashi was teasing her in good humor, which was a bit odd, Sakura waved him off. Honestly, she did not like the thought of fighting with Kakashi even if she felt somewhat at peace with him. There were still too many what ifs, too much doubt roaming in her mind. She received her wish of just "to be" with him, not to feel the same all encompassing terror she used to feel, but she was not comfortable with Kakashi just yet. Comfort and ease were not the same.

"Kakashi, you're annoying. Go away," she said it out of playfulness trying to cover the distress in her voice.

Kakashi didn't move. Instead, he pulled up and chair and sat across from her at the desk. Her heart rate picked up as she watched him make himself comfortable, a foreign emotion entering her heart that she couldn't describe. She didn't want to think about it. She wanted to close her eyes and ignore him, but there was still too much caution, too much doubt of his character for her to do that.

Sakura didn't know what to make of Kakashi, never had the slightest clue. When she was younger, on Team Seven, Sakura thought Kakashi mysterious in a stupid way: like why was he late? Why did he wear a mask? Why did he read those stupid orange books? He was mysterious still, more so since everyone had thought him dead, but her questions where more mature. What in his past made him want to wear a mask now? Why did he feel a need to visit the Memorial Stone even if it made him late to meetings? What happened to him during his missing years? Why did she feel uncomfortable yet safe when she was around him? Why did she always seem to bump into him nowadays?

"Afraid, Sakura?" Kakashi question staring at her from his peripheral vision.

"No, of course not. Why would I be?" Sakura said grabbing the back of her head and laughing as if Kakashi made a huge joke which he hadn't.

Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes leaning back against the chair he was sitting in. Sakura could only stare at him, memorized at the man before. It was as if a spell had been cast over her immobilizing her body and will.

In that moment, he looked harmless. Kakashi appeared to be completely and utterly exhausted, so strange and so beautiful, and Sakura found herself asking why. Why was she so alright around him now? Why did she feel...safe at times with him, and yet at others so completely guilt ridden and cautious.

The white haired man in front of her was so different at times that she had no idea what to make of him. At first she had thought him insane, crazed, but now, as he was now, Kakashi looked tried. So very tired almost lazily like a sea before a tremendous storm.

"Kakashi," Sakura began as he opened his eye to look at her.

"Hmm," he replied.

"Why don't you ask Naruto or Genma or even Sasuke to spar with you? I'm sure they would," Sakura offered with a smile.

Kakashi needed to get away from her before she completely lost her mind in confusion. She didn't want to think of him. Sakura didn't like the whys and what ifs of their relationship, if it could be called that. One moment she would feel completely safe with him and then terrified in the next. It was a mixture of cold and hot, two extremes, and she didn't like it at all.

"Why won't _you_ spar with me, Sakura?" He asked slowly standing up with her, his dark eye never leaving her face. Sakura felt herself swallow before a small flame of anger ignited. She hated be scared.

"Why don't you just ask someone else?" She shot back childishly crossing her arms. "Besides I'm busy right now. I have to go back to the hospital and try to find some research that my friend published a few years ago. It's been missing for three weeks, and I really need to look at it again."

She was talking about Akira's published work. Something about it had been nagging her constantly since that time with Shizune down in the stacks, as the hospital workers so lovingly called it. Never before had anything of Akira's bothered her, but those extra steps he took - why? Why did he do them? What good came of them? What had been their purpose? And she was excited. Sakura always loved a mystery, and Akira had left her with a complicated one that bothered her to such a degree that Sakura thought it was becoming an obsession.

Kakashi stilled suddenly. "Research..." he said lowly.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, it poses some interest to me. I helped him, Shijo Akira, with some of his experiments," Sakura explained frowning as Kakashi turned away.

It felt cold all of a sudden, and when Kakashi turned to look at her Sakura felt a ripping desire to stand behind something for protection. It was insane, it was crazy, but something in his stance, in his dark eye, was so chilling that it went beyond fear for her.

He looked desperate, oddly desperate. There was a need, a yearning in his dark eye that made Sakura both fear and want to be near him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and comfort him, and the desire was so strange and random that she became frightened of herself. Of him…

So much fear.

So many questions.

She just wanted to escape. She just wanted to stay.

She didn't want to be scared of Kakashi.

Sakura had no idea of what she was feeling, both hot and cold but not warm.

And then, Kakashi smiled at her, walked towards her, and patted her on the head. In that moment, Sakura thought he was handsome.

"I'll go then. See you later, Sakura."

A like that he was gone.

**A/N:** Okay, so I really did think that the last part was done rather awkwardly. I didn't know how to write the feelings I wanted Sakura to feel...I don't know. Anyway, it was a hard chapter to write for me so sorry if it didn't sound good. I'm trying to get some semblance of romance going on here, but its turning out to be harder than I expected. I mean...Yeah...Thanks for reading away.

Remember suggestions, ideas, and comments are always welcomed. I love hearing what ya'll think will happen, and I do have to say that some of you are on the right track. Keep up the good work! And sorry that this chapter wasn't more enjoyable. Oh, about the suggestions. If anyone has ideas of how I can open the flow to some romance, please lend a helping hand. Thanks. I'm kind of having a writer's block with that aspect of this story.

I hope ya'll didn't forget that this story is going to be a romance. Haha.

Until the next time,  
**Felix02**


	7. Proximity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

I would like to thank kitsune-bot for her romantic ideas. I'm not doing so hot on the romance in this story - it seems like all my creative ability has gone to figuring out the plot and mystery. And to whoever suggested what happens in this chapter: thank you.

Warning: The romance will be **minimum -** at best - in this chapter.

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

It was so very cold.

When she breathed her breathed turned a slivery smoke, and Sakura watched in amazement as the cloud billowed lazily up in the darkness until it dissipated entirely. She breathed again and again and again, her eyes never leaving the pale clouds escaping her mouth shivering the whole time.

Suddenly there was a light ahead, a very small light that grew larger when she walked closer and closer to it, yet no warmth radiated from that point of light; the coldness only grew colder. Her hands and fingers turned blue - no longer shaking, her finger nails turned a vibrant purple with the loss of circulating blood, and her ear burned with intense pain from a cold wind that flew by her face.

Nevertheless, Sakura forged on because of a psychological strain that eased as the light brightened and grew larger. She couldn't feel anything other than that strain, the need to ease the grip, anything to make it loosen its hold. It was blissful as it was terrifying; terrifying as it was exciting. She could feel the chill on her eyeballs but she couldn't tell if she was blinking or not. They were numb, too numb.

She stopped a frozen pressure forcing its weight onto her back making her kneel. If she screamed Sakura neither heard nor felt her mouth open, unaware that her two hands griped her throat. Her skin became so pale that blue and green veins revealed their size, shape, and pattern beneath her upper epidermis.

Then, much like a mirror, the vision of light that surrounded her broke and shattered into a million tiny pieces and she was floating in damp darkness.

Her pink hair hovered around her body twisting around her neck, fingers, and torso; it grew longer and longer until it flattened beneath her forming a circle that showed her a pool of liquid darkness, flashing in dark blue waves.

Unable to scream, not wanting to move, Sakura stared at the pool held by her foreign pink hair whilst a scene came into view. It was much like a movie the way the dark blue and blackness merged to create dull images.

She was an invisible spectator looking on from above into a room of some sort, a medical room of some type. There was a large table with a man lying on top strapped down by chakra infused bindings. He was screaming. Sakura wanted to cover her ears but her hands would not rise from her sides.

The man...he was screaming unwilling screams that he tried to muffle making the bluish-black scene all the more horrible. Painful.

The man's face was twisted in agony, his body trying to escape its bindings as men surrounded him with needles and metal objects that punctured his flesh with no mercy. But, even as he screamed he did so as though it were routine, as if it was something he suffered often.

It appeared, much to her horror, that was he screaming because of both the pain and comfort in the familiar. He screamed because it was a distraction, and Sakura felt sick to her stomach.

Then, suddenly, his screams stopped and two different colored eyes locked onto her.

There was no hatred this time around, not like how the man was in her first dream. The man's eyes were almost lifeless except for the strange look in them: they appeared to be bitter boarding on indifference and he was gazing straight at her, his form so real that Sakura swore that if she reached out she would touch his bruised flesh. But she didn't want to touch him...No, she did not wish to touch him.

And then as suddenly as he stopped screaming noises erupted from his throat. They were not screams but savage, horrid noises, animalistic. Sakura pictured an animal caged in the man's place. He did not look at her again with his strange, piercing eyes so bitter yet indifferent.

With that image the world went dark.

&&&

Waking up with a jolt, Sakura breathed heavily into her pillow.

Outside thunder gently roared.

Sweat poured down her face.

It was the same dream, but a different ending.

What did it mean?

Outside lightening followed the thunder.

&&&

Before she knew what happened Sakura felt her back smash against the wall of the hospital room along with a tray of medical instruments. Silence covered the place for a brief instance as the two other medics look at her and then back at their patient before the pain of something sticking into her side hit her.

Dully she looked down at herself and despite the pain that was cold-hot burning down her side, Sakura was memorized at the red patch slowly soaking into her white medic uniform. She knew it was too much red, too much warmth on her skin, but it looked so alluring that she couldn't look away.

Distantly she heard the tray and other medical supplies hit the floor in a graceful orchestra of sound. Suddenly, Reiko was by her side kneeling next to her. Kneeling? Sakura thought distantly as the bright, white room began to fuzz around her. The burning became more intense, it started to pulse, and she felt warm, very warm and wet.

"Sakura-san! Sakura-san, don't close your eyes, look at me!"

Rolling her head towards the woman, Sakura tried to say her name but her lips felt too heavy to move, like her mouth was filled with cotton.

"Reiko..." a man began kneeling next to the brown haired woman, "go get help. Sakura-san been punctured three times..." His voice faded in and out, but Sakura was blissfully unaware of the other two metal instruments stuck into her body.

"...they are too deep to take out; she might bleed to death..."

Ah, that's right. Hiro was in the room with them as well.

The pain throbbed harder and harder yet Sakura felt peaceful in that pain. It was something real, something tangible, and if she would have been in the right mind Sakura might have thought herself crazy for thinking such masochist thoughts.

"Hiro..." Sakura whispered hoarsely. "Make sure the patient is sedated."

"Sakura-san, Sakura-san! Stay with me. Don't close your eyes!"

She wanted to, wanted to real bad. Closing her eyes felt so good and she wanted to but he, they, wouldn't let her. Why? Deep down Sakura knew she was in trouble. Deep in her mind where she could still reason she could feel how deep three different instruments were stuck into her body. She felt invaded, but her mind was too muddled to realize anything at that point. Sleep sounded so tantalizing.

"...Reiko we can't leave him here by himself. Hold him down..."

Hold who down? Oh, the patient. He hit her...twice. She tried to hold him down with her strength, but he'd been too confused, too afraid and out of pure fear and instinct lashed out at her…And then she was here, on the ground with a lot of red paint that she knew wasn't really paint, but it looked a lot like it she thought incoherently.

"Hold him! Hold him!...I'll go. Sakura-san's losing too much blood. We have to get help!"

"I can't hold him down...!"

Reiko…Sakura thought dazedly.

"I have to go, Reiko. Try to hold him down!"

"Hurry!..." There were footsteps and the sounds of grunting and thrashing and whimpering.

"Sakura-san, stay awake you hear me! Stay awake."

But, Sakura thought closing her eyes, it felt so good to sleep.

**"Sakura-san!"**

&&&

_Sakura laughed as Akira smiled a mischievous smile that always set her off guard. He was handsome, he was careless, and she was attracted more so than she had been in ages. It was a rarity for her to feel such a pull towards someone, the last man being Sasuke (which may have been why), but for some strange reason Sakura was attracted to Akira, a man she deeply admired. _

_"Really, Sakura," he breathed bringing a test tube to his eyes, "you're here to work not play around. I will have to report this to Tsunade-sama."_

_Sakura stuck out her tongue another laugh at the back of her throat. "Oh, yeah. Well I could say the same for you, Doctor."_

_He had the gall to appear hurt, the stupid man he was. _

_"Ouch, Sakura! Why do you wound me so? Here I am trying to find out new ways to help the people of this beautiful world and yet you are always so harsh towards me. If I was an intelligent man - whom many say I am," at that he smiled, "then I would have to say that you are flirting with me."_

_Sakura felt her fingers curl into her palm. If she could fight him here without ruining a week's worth of progress, then she would have done so immediately and efficiently._

_"You can dream on, pretty boy," Sakura said with a composed voice walking to the other end of the lab and checking the status of growth of some petri dishes. "I, unlike some people in this room, have work to do."_

_He laughed coming to stand next to her. "Tell me what's going on in your life, Sakura?"_

_Without her consent, blood rushed to her cheeks. Blinking Sakura looked away from Akira willing the fluttering feeling in her stomach to go away as soon as possible. He was a colleague; nothing good could come out of an attraction towards him. _

_"Are you blushing?" he teased with a roguish smile that ignited a spark of anger in her._

_"No!" Sakura replied vehemently. Akira only laughed._

_"Come on, Sakura. Just tell me how life's treating you; we have to wait another thirty minutes for the DNA to duplicate."_

_Rolling her eyes Sakura answered, " I swear you have to be the first man to ask me that question."_

_Akira smiled in a strange manner and shook his head. "Can't blame me for being a romantic kinda guy; besides, I really want to know about how you are doing. I think it will amuseme quite nicely."_

_Shaking her head the pink kunoichi smiled in return to his own. "Maybe later?" she offered. "I really have to write this report, because I don't want to have to do it later."_

_"Maybe over coffee?"_

_Turning sharply, Sakura gaped. "Are you asking me out?"_

_"It was implied," he said winking at her. "Anythingto get to know you better," he joked. "I want to brag about my pretty little helper to my friends."_

_Sakura laughed but strangely it wasn't out of happiness as she realized later._

_"Somehow that scares me a little."_

_"Don't be scared of me, Sakura. I would never hurt you."_

"_You're right," Sakura exclaimed smartly, crossing her arms, "because I would hurt you first."_

_He laughed in a pleasant humor saying how true her statement was._

&&&

Tsunade paled regarding the younger medic-nin beside her before turning back towards Sakura's pale face.

Shit. This was not good...this was really not good at all. The beeping monitor next to her pupil's hospital bed sounded off with an all too familiar hum that let Tsunade know that her dear student was in stable condition, at least for now.

Letting out a small breath, Tsunade thanked God for keeping Sakura safe.

When the news of her injuries had come to her a couple of hours ago, Shizune and she immediately rushed over to the hospital and took over the whole operation. Shizune had gone to care for Sakura's patient - an enemy-nin who had been injured and caught, while she herself went to care for the girl who had become like a daughter to her.

On seeing her crimson blood pasted to her body, to white sheets that became redder with each passing moment, Tsunade had thought for a while that Sakura wasn't going to make it. There had been too much blood; one scalpel had pierced through her the bottom of her right lung. Tsunade had frozen in shock; clearly something one as experienced as her should not have done, until an older medic called for attention.

From that moment Tsunade had done everything in her power to save the pink haired kunoichi, but the best she could do was only stabilize her for a moment, a miracle in itself. She had faith the girl would be okay, at least she dearly hoped so.

Sakura's head had been injured as well when she was thrown against the wall and Tsunade did not know how long she would be unconscious. More importantly, she didn't know how he wasn't going to find out about it.

"Tsunade-sama?" the medic-nin began quietly staring at Sakura's prone form.

"No one is to hear about this, Hiro. Do you understand me?" Tsunade said a little too sharply than she had meant.

The man stiffened at her voice but nodded. "I've already told the others, but you must understand that is it very important that no one - and I mean no one - finds out what happened."

Tsunade saw the questions in the young man's eyes; they were the same as everyone else's, but Tsunade could not give the reason. She absolutely could not.

Hiro coughed gaining the blond's attention.

"If I may be so bold, Tsunade-sama?" She nodded for him to continue. "What will you say to cover for Sakura-san?"

Tsunade looked down at her former student, a sad smile in her eyes as she took the girl's hand in her own. Sakura was too cold for her liking.

Closing her eyes, Tsunade prayed for time. She needed time to see him and explain and she could only hope he would understand. Was it even the right action to take? Should she tell him? Was it in the right? But she knew that soon she would have to tell him for the truth always had a way to come out no matter how hard one tried to keep it a secret. It would only turn out worse if he found out later that he had been lied to.

"I will say that she is on a mission to one of the border camps. Kanpou already knows and now you do as well, but do not mention it again."

"I understand, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Hiro." Tsunade ended closing her eyes dreading what was to come.

&&&

"Hey, Kakashi, what's going on?" Genma said slapping Kakashi's back in a friendly manner. The other man didn't flinch, but Genma was rewarded with an indifferent look.

"The same as always, Genma." Kakashi responded rubbing his eye.

It was stinging again Genma guessed, but he couldn't be bothered by that now. He had heard some interesting information from Naruto and Sasuke a couple of minutes ago at the ramen stand about his favorite pinked haired medic who never left the hospital. Or so she didn't in his wise opinion.

"I got some news about Sakura-chan. I know you must be interested in hearing about your former students, and I take it upon myself to tell you everything I know." Genma explained as Kakashi turned towards him, his attention fully on him.

Genma blinked a few times before he smiled. "Wow, I didn't know you were actually interested, man."

Kakashi shrugged. "I learned to cherish things over the years. What's the news?" he added quickly but retaining an indifferent air about him.

"Seems like she's off on a mission."

"That's interesting," his words came out slowly.

"Yeah, Naruto said she left earlier today to one of the border camps. I asked him when she was coming back and he only said that Shizune told him that she would be gone for an indeterminate amount of time."

Genma touched his chin thoughtfully not paying any attention to Kakashi's expression.

"Come to think of it, Sakura usually tells Sasuke and Naruto bye when she leaves on a mission, but Naruto was a bit angry that she didn't stop by before she left. Sasuke guessed that she had to leave immediately."

"Really," Kakashi commented dryly. His grip on his glass tightened unnoticeably.

Genma laughed for no reason settling back in his bar stool and ordering a drink. "Anko's been a bitch lately, well she always was one, but she's becoming more girlish. I need help, man. She's changing and I don't like it."

Kakashi looked at him and nodded. "That's too bad, Genma."

"You look a bit off canter, Kakashi. Something up?"

The white haired shinobi shook his head standing up and placing money down on the counter. "Just tried. I'll see you later, Genma."

"Asuma is coming in a bit, are you sure you don't wanna stay?" Genma asked placing a senbon into his mouth. Kakashi shook his head in the negative.

"No, I have to go talk to someone."

"Alright, man, have a goodnight."

Kakashi gave a curt nod. "Will do."

&&&

Her mouth felt fuzzy like she had just eaten wads of cotton balls her mother kept in her bedroom, but that wasn't nearly so important as the stiffness and pain that stretched throughout her body. She wanted to relax her muscles, move into a more comfortable position, but moving only succeeded in hurting her more. Sakura closed her eyes tightly and breathed the pain intensifying as she became more aware of her surroundings.

She was in a hospital room, white and bright; the smell of antiseptic, the sound of a heart monitor, and the distant sounds of nurses' voices that could be heard outside her door filled her senses, but nothing helped to relieve her pain and ebbing restlessness. The last thing Sakura remembered was being thrown against the wall caught completely off guard and bleeding profusely before everything went dark.

_Fuck_, Inner Sakura exclaimed moving in ways the physical Sakura couldn't.

What the hell happened? How in the world did she end up as a patient instead of her rightful medic position? Ranking her memory as she would her hair Sakura faintly remembered being thrown against the wall by the enemy-nin; nothing more came to mind after that and it made her rather upset for some reason.

Sighing, or groaning in her case, Sakura reached up to touch her head mindful of the IV probing in her skin. It irritated her. She always hated IVs. Sakura was only thinking of the IVs and being careful with them when, much to her shock, something warm and big grabbed her hand and gently brought it back against her stomach on top of her other hand.

"Try not to move, Sakura." a soft, masculine voice articulated through her pain filled fog.

It sounded so much like Kakashi, but why would Kakashi be in a hospital room with her? It wasn't right Sakura thought with closed eyes; he should be off reading his porn in public or something.

"Kakashi?" she asked almost timidly, her voice raspy and thick, wishing it would and would not be him. She felt so safe right now, so protected, but alert.

"I'm here."

He sounded close, too close that when she opened her eyes and turned her head to see his face only a few inches from her own she wasn't taken aback in the least.

He looked handsome, very attractive in his mask, especially the way he was regarding her. If she could she would've shivered. His brown eye looked different than anything she had ever seen on him before. There was no insanity, no reason to fear him; no indifference which surprised her but a mixture of fear, concern, relief, and another emotion she couldn't quite place.

Sakura tried to smile at him. He looked so...weird, and she was attracted to him. The insight of her feelings rocketed through her body as she fully grasped it in that awkward moment where he was barely two inches from her face.

She, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi's former student, was attracted to him. Very attracted and very aware of him. Fearing him seemed like a distant memory that's potency had ebbed away in the passage of time when really barely any time had passed. It was as if her injuries had knocked something out of her mind, made her recognize her own feelings better. Or maybe it was because of her injuries she was having these thoughts.

"I know you are," her throat hurt as she spoke but that didn't matter. She wanted to talk to Kakashi to hear his voice; the pain lessened when he spoke. "But why?"

Kakashi tried to smile but failed. The smile Sakura could see through his mask never reached his one exposed eye. Sakura was struck with the insane urge to see his other eye, a yearning deep within her reawakened from childhood. What was Kakashi hiding? What secrets?

"Sakura, that isn't a normal question for someone to ask right when they wake up in a hospital." He sounded serious Sakura thought ideally, but she guessed he was right; it wasn't a normal question.

"I suppose you're right, Kakashi." Sakura felt his hand on hers and blinked.

He'd never taken his hand away from her own. She felt his heated skin burn like fire onto her own and it thrilled her aching body as much as it frightened her. The dull throb of fear she sustained for him since his return was beginning to return, but more than that fear was the fear of him leaving her right now. That was what she feared the most.

Sakura breathed in deeply as her second realization startled her. Kakashi's eye took on a more concerned appearance and he grasped her hands tighter in his for a second.

"Sakura," he breathed. "What's wrong?"

Sakura wanted to laugh.

Indeed, what was wrong with her? What in the hell was she thinking all of a sudden? Sakura was smart enough to know that people feelings didn't switch suddenly from mistrust to attraction, from fear to yearning, but that hadn't really been the case had it? No she thought with conviction bringing her bottom hand up to touch his face loving, taking joy in the way his dark, brown eye widened. She would blame the medicine later for that, but for now she would enjoy the way her hand felt against the curve of his face. It fell perfectly into her hand.

The feelings she was beginning to realize just now had always been there buried deep within her fear, caution, and mistrust. They lay dormant and now they were alive within her. Over the past few weeks, his numerous visits, their conversations all had led her to this point of attraction. She wouldn't call it love for it wasn't that at all, but attraction...Yes, she could label it attraction because she was very much attracted to her former teacher.

"Nothing, Kakashi." Sakura said bringing her hand down on top of his. He didn't move his own hand something which Sakura was eternally grateful for. "I'm perfectly fine."

And it was the truth. She was perfectly fine.

"Do you want your normal question now?" Sakura smiled tiredly.

"I would rather you get some rest," Kakashi said brushing pink strands of hair from her face.

The touch was quite intimate but Sakura didn't think to question it. She didn't need or want an explanation. She didn't even want to know why he was here because somewhere deep down she knew. She didn't know what she knew which sounded crazy, but something told her that it would be okay; that she didn't need an answer now but to take pleasure in the fact that he was there. She followed her instincts.

"I want to talk to you though," Sakura pouted.

Kakashi moved back quickly, as if he had been burned, his eyes flashing in an unknown way that didn't scare her in the least. Not this time. It made her cautious and curious, fear would come later maybe.

"Ask your question." He gave in tensely.

Sakura saw his jaw muscles tighten and clench, and wondered if his face felt like marble, hard and cool. He looked angry but at the same time indifferent, and Sakura knew that he was the only man in the world who could pull off such a look without seeming constipated or anything silly like that.

"How long have I been out?"

"Two days."

Sakura closed her eyes again a moan in the back of her throat. Thank God it wasn't longer than that, but it was strange that neither Naruto, Sasuke, nor any body else other than Kakashi was there.

She knew Naruto well enough to know that he would have bought her tons of weird flowers, none of them her favorite, with stuffed animals that she was forced to keep at her mother's house since they had begun to take up too much room in her apartment.

"That's not too bad," Sakura said watching Kakashi's jaw clench more.

"Not too bad?" He began shaking. It looked like he was trying to hold something inside himself. Sakura's breath hitched, her heart pulsating in her chest rapidly.

"Not too bad, Sakura?" He said again, his voice angry, chastising, but strangely she felt no fear only a deep calmness.

It had to be the drugs yet it was more than that. Sakura felt, knew with all of her soul, mind, and body that Kakashi would never hurt her.

The need to touch him, comfort him swelled within her blood, and with a calm disposition Sakura reached out her hand so that her fingers brushed against his firm, harden jaw. She tentively touched his mask and he tensed one last time before relaxing.

"Kakashi, it's okay. I'm alright." The words escaped from her mouth before she even knew she was saying them.

He let out a shuddering breath before calming down and grabbing her outreached hand his own and kissing it lightly through his mask. Her breath was torn out of her body as soon as his masked lips touched her fingers and he smiled at her reaction.

"Thank you, Sakura."

"For what?" she asked dazedly.

"Staying alive." he answered brushing her cheek with his index finger. Her eyes fluttered shut, but with him, strangely, she wasn't embarrassed by the action.

His answer was so strange, so beautiful to hear; it sounded important to her, but her awareness was already beginning to fade. She knew there was something important about staying alive, but what was it.

Many years later Sakura would think back, remember, and comprehend his words, but her mind wasn't capable of that function right now. Darkness was slipping slowly back over her eyes, but she wanted to remain awake. Kakashi just said something important about staying alive, but for the life of her what was it. What exactly did he say?

"Kakashi, where is Naruto and Sasuke?" He laughed a little before leaning down near her ear.

"Sleep, Sakura."

But she couldn't. Not yet. She was worried that he would leave. Unconsciousness was drifting nearer and nearer, and if Sakura had been able to think clearly she would have been shocked that she said the words she was about to say. Her independent self didn't ever allow for any feelings like that ever since Sasuke. Her hand tightened on his own as if to keep him next to her.

"Don't leave," she begged her voice between a dream and reality.

"I won't leave." he promised brushing her hair again.

"Good." Sakura sighed falling into blissful darkness.

The last thing she remembered hearing was the sound of his quiet chuckle.

**A/N:** The ending part of this chapter seemed a bit fast to me, but I hoped I explained it well enough so that everyone understood why Sakura was feeling the way she did.

It is still questionable in my eyes, but some input like if what she feeling makes sense and goes along with the pace of the story would be welcomed.

I might end up redoing it depending on ya'lls' thoughts. If you have something negative to say I ask that it be in order to make me a better writer for future stories and such. I am trying to become a better writer after all and that can only happen with you, my honest reviewers.

Thanks to everyone who has lent me their support with this story. It is you who give me the inspiration to become a better writer.

**Felix02**


	8. Simpatico

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and sorry for the long wait!

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

Someone was talking.

_Correction. _

Someone was yelling.

Sakura couldn't make out the voice quite well, but she wanted them (whoever they were) to stop. It was too noisy and her head hurt from the elephant that stepped on it - an event which may or may not have happened, but Sakura was welling to bet that, even in her lack of reason state, an elephant did not step on her head. For one she would mostly likely be dead, and two elephants did not make their homes in this particular part of the world.

She tried turning her face into the pillow to stop the noise but the action succeed in only causing more pain and annoyance. So what else is a girl supposed to do in that situation except groan in a most loud fashion which luckily caught the attention of the two people in the room; the person yelling she soon identified as Tsunade and the other, much to her unexplainable relief, was Kakashi.

Tsunade was by her side instantly like her own personal genie. The thought was so funny that Sakura cracked a smile, but Tsunade didn't say anything about her pupil's expression probably thinking that the drugs were still in effect. They needed to be more so Sakura thought as pain throbbed like five thousand hammers in her head.

"Sakura," Tsunade said in an unusually soft tone, "how are you feeling?"

Tsunade had always stressed the divine principal of truth in her teachings. Truth could save a person or lead a person to their doom, but in medical related cases telling the explicit, dirty truth was the best way for healing to commence. Or for the pain to go away which would be wonderful on so many levels. So the truth it would be.

"Like shit." Sakura was proud of the smile that appeared on the Hokage's face. "What else did you expect, Tsunade-sensei?"

"I'm glad you're coherent enough to remember my teachings, Sakura. I'll let the medics on duty know to up your meds. Now," she began by shinning a light into her eye.

Sakura tried to face the other way but someone's hand was keeping her head still.

Kakashi.

She looked up at him yet before she could catch a glimpse of his masked face a blinding point of light was in her right eye and then her left. Tsunade nodded professionally putting her light back into her pocket seemingly pleased with what she found. Sakura blinked away her tears a little annoyed.

"You're lucky, Sakura." There was a moment's pause as Tsunade refilled her IV with some pain killers. "Very lucky to be alive."

"I was that close?" Sakura joked trying to rid Tsunade's serious face. She hated worrying her mother figure.

Beside her Sakura felt Kakashi stiffen. Tsunade cast a quick glance at Kakashi before looking down at Sakura again and appraising her like she would a diamond nodding her head again as if checking off something from her mind.

"I'm done for now. Kakashi," Tsunade standing up and walking to the door to take her leave, "make sure Sakura doesn't do anything stupid, my student has a bad habit of doing idiotic things."

"I'm not Naruto you know!" Sakura retorted as the older woman left the room without even a goodbye. So much for mother figure Sakura thought irritably.

"Certainly, Hokage-sama," Kakashi responded in a conventionally pleasant voice. He never once looked at Tsunade as she left. Sakura shivered.

"You didn't have to agree with her, Kakashi." she said crossing her arms and smiling up at him belying her glare. "I can take care of myself better than Naruto can. Heck! I have to grocery shop for the idiot. Speaking of which," she said upon inspection of the room, "where is he?"

Naruto always came to see her especially if he heard she was injured, as well as Sasuke, but neither of the two were to be seen.

Kakashi's eye never left her face. Sakura got the feeling as if he were soaking up her image, imprinting it onto his memory, but her thoughts vanished as soon as he touched her cheek lightly with his index finger tracing the curve of her face gingerly.

What had she been asking? Closing her eyes Sakura tried to shake away the feelings building up inside with each moment Kakashi's hand lingered on her face. Where had the fear gone? Was she so fickle as to fear and then be attracted to a man in a single instant? And the feelings slowly reaching her heart now, were they right? Did she even want to feel them?

No matter how much she loved him as a brother now, Sasuke constantly loomed in the back of her mind keeping her from forming relationships born out of attraction. Just as with Akira. But Sakura couldn't help the escaping sigh as Kakashi took her right hand in his larger, warmer one. Logically, inner Sakura screamed that she couldn't, shouldn't allow Kakashi or herself to become attached. It was for the best. She wanted that thought to be true. What she felt for Kakashi was a simple attraction, nothing more. What harm could there be in it?

A memory of his eye flashing in that unknown fashion, that insanity raced before her closed eyes and Sakura breathed in deeply once again. There was still that unknown to conquer and Sakura was more curious than afraid now. She pictured herself as a moth drawn towards a flame; it was a dangerous attraction but she wanted to feel the heat of that flame, to look at it wholly and she was willing to take a chance only if to satisfy her curiosity.

"Sakura, are you tired?" His deep voice lulled her away from her thoughts. She opened her eyes to look into his concerned one with a dreamy smile and said something that she hadn't meant to say.

Reaching up Sakura played with the edge of his mask in a mild manner. "Are you ever going to show me your face, Kakashi?"

He took her hand in his own a serious but soft tone in his eye. He didn't answer immediately and the room became quite, but Sakura never felt more at peace in her life despite the pain throbbing in her head and back.

"Sakura," he began rubbing his thumb on back of her hand, "do you want me to show you now?"

Her eyes widened and out of pure instinct caused by her shock at his answer shook her head in the negative. It was that easy. It couldn't be, not after all that she and Naruto went through to see his face. He smiled at her no doubt amused by her expression.

"I'll take that as a no then."

Sakura brushed a few sliver hairs from his creased brow a soft alluring aspect on her lips that Kakashi gazed at. "It just seems too easy now, no real mystery about it if you just show me. And after all Naruto and I did..." Sakura shook her head laughing without her usual vigor.

Kakashi took her hand and placed a few kiss on her open palm a solemn, powerful expression in his eye that Sakura had never before witnessed. "If it is in my power, Sakura, I will give it to you if you ask me."

Sakura couldn't speak; for the life of her she couldn't even breathe in that moment.

What was he saying? It was almost too crazy to believe, but Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi, was in a way giving himself fully to her and it frightened her more so than when she first saw him all those weeks ago in the Hokage's office. Attraction was on her part, but Kakashi...what did he feel? He had to be joking, right?

But Kakashi, as far as she had known him, had been a man of little animation, a man that seemed when she was younger lacking of depth. Over the years she had discovered that she had been most dreadfully wrong in her estimations of her ex-sensei; she had grown to know that he was a man who never exposed many deeper and baser emotions. Not even with Shizune, Sakura was sure, did he reveal anything to her except maybe his body for the usual pleasures; pleasures that Sakura could only dream of.

What a sad life she lived, too busy, too scared for anything of that type of devotion one could say. And she refused to be like Ino and Tenten and other women of her generation; she would not settle for a one night stand, she wanted more than that, dreamed of more than that. Yet she wasn't stupid. She knew what the shinobi lifestyle entailed, backwards and forewords, but there was still a piece of that little girl in her that always dreamed for a life with a family and a loving husband and maybe a dog or two, and wanted to keep that dream within her heart.

But Kakashi expression was so honest, so revealing that Sakura didn't want to answer. His words shocked her to the core and truthfully she was scared of those words he uttered. How far did his affection run for her? Sakura hoped it wasn't too far; she hoped that maybe he was kidding with her, but that was a long shot. Kakashi never toyed around with words as shocking and as honest as those. He wasn't that type of man, of that Sakura innately knew.

Sakura put on a smile. "Then I'll be sure not to ask for much," she said as lightly as she could without causing offense.

It worked. There was a smile in Kakashi's eye and as if he sensed her disquiet teased back a little in return.

"A wise man once told me women are prone to be flippant in what they say."

Sakura laughed. Over the past few weeks, Kakashi had teased her frequently, but he always knew when to stop, when he crossed some border that made her uncomfortable. It was like her knew her better than she knew herself sometimes, and Sakura often found herself wondering why that was when he'd been away for so long.

"Please tell me we are not speaking of Genma now. I thought you were smarter than that, Kakashi!"

Kakashi sighed. "You'd be surprised on how much Genma actually knows about the opposite sex."

"Or how much he thinks he knows," Sakura pointed out. Kakashi said that she might have had a point. "So tell me who said that wise saying. Was it you, Kakashi?"

"No."

"Gai?"

"Wrong again, Sakura." Kakashi said placing his forehead to hers and smiling with a closed eye. Sakura's heart raced and she wished that he would kiss her. Her body froze momentarily as she cast the image out of her mind not wanting to think any further on the topic. It was just a passing imagining nothing more she told herself.

"I thought you were smarter than this, Sakura." he said throwing her words back in her face. She tried to look mad but failed miserably having Kakashi chuckle.

"Tell me who before I throw you out of this room." she insisted

"You couldn't if you tried," he said tonelessly, but when she gave him a stern look he lifted up his hands in surrender. "Not in your current condition I meant to say."

"Better," she nodded as if proud over a student's accomplishment. "Now who?"

"You're not done guessing."

"Wow, Kakashi! That leaves me with all the male population of Konoha and every other place you've been to."

"One more guess and then I'll tell you." Kakashi said trying to placate her.

"I don't know..." she began rolling her eyes and throwing up her hands a little, "Jiraiya?"

Kakashi beamed. "You are intelligent after all."

"Thanks," Sakura said sarcastically. "Now I think we both know that while Jiraiya may be wise in some things he could never be called wise in dealing with the female gender. I have heard far too much from Naruto and," looking at his breast pocket, "know of far too much of what he writes."

"You read his novels." Kakashi asked a hint of disapproval in his tone. Sakura snorted.

"No, but I know enough about them. My apartment isn't that far from the damnable Pink Book Store." She frowned at that statement curiously looking over at Kakashi. "Why is it that they call it the Pink Book Store when it is green and brown inside?"

Kakashi shrugged. "To retain male pride I'm guessing."

"Would you purchase your books there if the store was pink on the inside?"

"I don't live there, Sakura, so I don't see the harm if it was pink."

"Good," Sakura said punctually noticing Kakashi's sliver eyebrow raise in response.

"Good?" he questioned and Sakura felt it her obligation to enlighten him since he was such a useless man.

"I like men who are comfortable enough in their masculinity to admit they don't have a problem with the color pink."

Kakashi touched her pink hair twirling it between his fingers his eye never leaving her own. Sakura restrained a pleasant shiver. She didn't want to show him the effect he had on her.

"Is that because pink is your favorite color, Sakura?" He whispered his lips lightly brushing the corner her eye.

She swallowed a hard lump in her throat wishing her voice to return but luck wasn't with her, and when she spoke she squeaked, "My favorite color is red!"

Kakashi pulled back a smug smirk on his face that she could see because of his exposed eye. "Really? I always thought it was pink." He replied strangely with an offhanded tone of voice.

Sakura pulled on her hair but Kakashi took the offending hand into his own as she replied, "Most people think that because of my hair color, but my favorite color is really red."

"And what about your other favorite things, what are they?" Kakashi asked kissing her open palm, his lips lingering longer than necessary, but Sakura didn't mind; she liked his attentions much to her surprise.

It seemed as if she had been that a lot lately. When had she let him get so close to her? Sakura couldn't think of the answer, but she knew she wasn't completely opposed to his attentions. She liked...no, she really liked them and was disappointed in herself for feeling that way. But right now she couldn't resist the temptation; it felt good to be wanted in such a manner. It was addicting.

"Why do you want to know, Kakashi?" Sakura asked breathlessly. She felt as though she'd been training for a long, long time with Gai or something equally as evil.

"Humor me, Sakura." He said exasperated his hand still holding hers.

He liked her hands Sakura assumed. He never went to long without touching them and she wondered why that was. One day she would ask him but not now. He looked very handsome...Yes, Sakura thought, certainly not now.

"What's your favorite food?" he began intertwining his long, masculine fingers with hers. Sakura felt her heart jump a little.

"Tempura." she said simply loving how he frowned. She knew he didn't like the dish at all, but a couple of years back she happened to eat at a darling little restaurant outside of the city on one of her missions and they had served the best tempura. Since then the dish had become her favorite as she explained to Kakashi when he asked when it had become her favorite food.

"Yuck," he replied shaking his head, but Sakura couldn't shake the weird feeling that invaded her mind. He acted as if he'd already known her answer. There was something in his posture, in his expression beyond his frown. His humor played in her mind over and over again like a broken recorder, but why did that bother her so much? It was a simple expression; it couldn't mean anything more…could it? No she was thinking far too into things. But...Sakura shook her head. She would think later.

Yet he looked adorable she admitted; he looked adorable when he said yuck. Sakura smiled.

Kakashi thought for another question and Sakura waited patiently. "Favorite season?"

"Autumn. I really love fall."

"Really, why?" Again it seemed as if he had already known that answer which was strange. Then it hit her: it sounded like he wanted to know the why behind the answer more than the answer though the thought was as preposterous as the feeling.

Nevertheless, Sakura thought it best to humor him, besides she was enjoying the conversation anyway. So after explaining to Kakashi why she loved fall so much - something about the brilliance of how everything seemed to die leaving room for hope, the magically aspect in an autumn wind and sky - Kakashi gave her a look so soft and comforting that had Sakura been a lesser women, or a younger girl since she had been very emotional back then, she would have cried in happiness. Thankfully no such water works were in store.

"How about yours?" Sakura ventured wanting to ask him questions.

"Summer." he replied without blinking.

"Why? It's always so hot."

"Because the days always seem to never end," was his simple reply as he gently moved her to make room so that he could lay next to her. Sakura flushed a bright red. "You're adorable when you blush, Sakura." Kakashi pointed out crossing his arms behind his head.

"Never mind that!" Sakura brushed off the topic and loving the way Kakashi smelled. "Back to summer, I need more explanation."

He frowned. "I can't explain it better than that, Sakura."

"Favorite edition of Icha Icha?"

Kakashi laughed at that shaking his head. "Now that's a hard question, but I think I'm going to have to go with the third one, Icha Icha Tactics."

"Sounds frightening." she mused out loud.

"Not at all; it's very amusing."

"Can I read it then?"

"No."

"You're such a hypocrite! And since you're not my father, and since you sound so high and mighty, I think I'm going to read it anyway."

"If you're blushing because I am in a bed with you, I would love to see your reactions to what goes on in those novels." He shot back smartly. Sakura frowned.

"I could take it - I just wouldn't read it in public! Naruto has dragged both me and Sasuke to some hard core porn film festivals over in La-Val just to get a kick out of our reactions. He tried once to bring Hinata and she plainly refused…" Sakura smiled wickedly. "If you ask me, I think that both Naruto and she practice enough of _that _thatshe doesn't need to go watch anything with him."

"You watch porn." He didn't sound too happy, but Sakura could have cared less.

"You read it!"

"True, but I'm older."

"That might be true, but I'm not twelve anymore. I'm twenty-four or can't you tell?"

Kakashi's eye burned into her own. "I can tell, Sakura. It's painfully obvious you're no longer a little girl."

Sakura blinked, flushing, turning her back towards him. "I miss my youth."

"You're still young." Kakashi said simply placing his arms around her.

Sakura smiled; she was starting to feel tired again, the world was slowly fading in and out. H her mind became heavy but she didn't want to fall asleep just yet. She wanted to talk with him, with Kakashi. Sakura guessed the medicine was starting to take affect again. Lucky her.

"Sometimes I think I wasted it." Sakura mumbled turning back around and landing in his chest. "You smell nice."

"Thanks," Kakashi replied his arms wrapping around her again. "Tired?"

"It's the medicine."

"Ah," he muttered touching her face again, but her eyes were closed so that she couldn't see his expression. She was so tired all of a sudden, all she wanted to do was sleep and Kakashi's warmth wasn't making it any easier to stay awake. As a medic she knew she should rest, but as a woman who was next to man she found attractive she wanted to remain awake.

"Why?" she asked suddenly her voice low and dreamy. She was between realities now. At some points she thought she was dreaming; reality was fading in and out, but his warmth continued to call towards her.

"Why what?" his voice sounded distant.

"Why are you here...Why are you like this?"

She felt his hands touch her own before he kissed them.

"Sleep, Sakura."

She shook her head knowing that unconscious was just around the corner. "Why?"

She felt more than heard Kakashi sigh, "Because you're here," before darkness claimed her.

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait peoples. Things have been hectic lately and I gave up fan fiction for lent this year...not posting fan fictions but just reading them which give me inspiration to write my own. Not to mention I have had the worst case of writer's block ever and it is still with me. I had to basically force myself to write these last few paragraphs. It was horrible.

Sorry if this move seems too sudden as well. I was thinking about it and I think emotions like this do happen in real life. One day people suddenly change, and it also helps that Sakura is kind of loaded with medicine. Point is: big events change people or make them know themselves better. So thanks to all the fans out there who reviewed and have encouraged me to continue. I know where I'm going with this story, it's just the writing it out part that's hard.

Until the next time,

**Felix02**


	9. Avidity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

_Hatake Kakashi was no longer. The man before her was only a scarecrow of that man she had known so long ago and he terrified her beyond all expectations. KakaSaku. _

**Scarecrow  
**Felix02

"You have it?"

The man nodded handing a shadow the scroll in his hands. In turn the shadowy figure knelt before another cloaked in red and said something in a foreign tongue before handing it to the other, more dominate figure. The man glimpsed the bottom half of the man in red's face; he saw his pleasant smile only for a moment.

"Not bad considering this was taken from Konoha. Perchance," the man in red asked off handedly, "did you happen to see my dear partner?" The messenger nodded. He'd seen his _dear partner_ enough times in the past to ever forget the face.

"Yes," he answered with caution.

"And?" his employer promoted as if speaking to a child. He swallowed.

"What do you wish to know?"

Mouth twisting he spoke, "Everything." There was a pause before a second smile crept over his lips. "But first can you confirm the location."

"It is confirmed." The messenger replied.

"I thought as much...Did I not tell you, Zenhai?" the master exclaimed happily turning towards the shadow. The shadow replied in the same unfamiliar tongue. "You did a fine job," the man in red said turning back to him, "and you shall receive what is due to you in time, but there is one more thing I must ask."

The servant bowed lower. "Of course, anything you ask."

The man in red smiled and holding up the returned scroll in his hands, "Truly, my dear man, I thank you for the effort of bringing this back, but I need one more thing you see." He laughed. "I must admit I need my dear partner back, it is most essential for my plans."

He nodded in understanding and his employer clapped happily. "Now, tell me about this _everything _if you please."

&&&

Having been explained by the Hokage that she was on a mission during her hospitalization, saying they wanted to keep such things under wrap for safety purposes, Sakura was well aware of her circumstances and why none of her friends showed up with flowers and chocolates. Everyone excluding Kakashi that is, but Tsuande-sama waved off her question briefly saying that the Copy-nin had simply been in the area when it happened and witnessed the whole thing.

Sakura found that a little strange. Hatake Kakashi was never to be spotted anywhere near the hospital unless forced. Nonetheless, like a good pupil Sakura kept her mouth closed and decided it was best to keep that subject for a later date.

So currently, a whole two weeks later, Sakura was happily (or not so happily) helping Tsunade with her usual paper work. Really, the woman was a slave driver. This wasn't even her job.

Sakura huffed leaning her face into one hand as she ideally spun a pen between her fingers of the other. The document was about some mission or another that had almost been completed successfully, but, per usual, something or another happened and blah, blah, blah... She was supposed to give a summary to Tsuande, but this was her twentieth report to read in the past seven hours and she was tired. The words were merging together before her eyes and Sakura, in her infinite medical knowledge, knew that wasn't a good sign. It was a sign to call it a day.

Looking up at the clock Sakura smiled fleetingly. It was almost time, and just when she thought that a presence materialized in the open room where jounins and other such shinobi rested to write their reports, which she usually had to read after they did so. The presence didn't startle her in the least, it happened with such frequency now that she automatically knew who it was.

"Kakashi, how was your day?" A smile came to rest on her lips as she spoke his name. There was still an ebbing discomfort when he sat down at the desk across from her, but it wasn't as tangible as it used to be; nevertheless, it was a lingering presence.

She needed to stop thinking Kakashi was crazy, she really did, because to the visible eye he wasn't. In the time she spent with him, he'd been a perfect gentleman. Well, as far as he could be. Needless to say, he was considerate and didn't try to kill her or anything. Still there was that vision of insanity in her mind and it wouldn't let her go. It was that and that alone which reminded her to be cautious, but more and more nowadays she was finding that she no longer care about that.

He was with her and that was all that mattered, and it bothered her that she wasn't bothered by that ever growing feeling of complacency around him.

"Suitable. The weather was quite nice today." He said copying her position and leaning his cheek in to hand. "Yours?" his eyes moved down to regard her sizable stack of papers and scrolls.

"Don't tempt me," Sakura bit out warningly. He smiled warmly.

It was strange, Sakura thought going back to her paper work, how their relationship evolved from that incident in the hospital. He'd been her teacher and then her friend or sorts before he disappeared, and now...Now he was something more.

She never questioned his behavior at the hospital and he never questioned her reactions to them, but there was some sort of silent understanding between them concerning that time. He sometimes touched her cheeks and hands, but nothing more than that. He never tried to kiss her or hold her hands; they were simple touches. Sakura wasn't even sure what she felt about them. She was more unsure of why he touched her. It seemed at times he touched her just to touch. Other times his eye took on a strange hue that made her feel both uncomfortable yet needed, as if he were reaching out to see if she was indeed real.

If others noticed their increased time spent together they didn't comment. They were no longer teacher and student, but two grown adults. Naruto, though, as usual had been the only one to make any sort of comment, but he'd been quietly shut up by Sasuke remarking on something to make Naruto mad as hell. Sakura didn't quite remember what he said but was grateful nevertheless. She wouldn't have minded answering questions about her relationship with Kakashi, they didn't kept in secret in any way, but she was more or less silent on the subject because she wouldn't quite know how to answer any questions.

Were they a couple? Certainly not.

Were they friends? Of course.

Sakura sighed loudly gaining Kakashi's attention from his _Icha Icha_ novel, "Something bothering you?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not really, just tired."

"Want me to walk you home?" he asked going back to his novel his voice light.

It seemed as though the copy-nin had made a habit of walking her to her apartment. It started just when she got out of the hospital and resumed her normal active duties. Tsuande didn't want her to go on missions again just yet for obvious reasons, but Sakura was beginning to feel the itch of boredom creeping into her muscles and nerves. She wanted a mission. Bad. She wasn't a combat medic for nothing. Yet she digressed. Kakashi had been coming to walk her home everyday from Tsuande office or the Reporting Room, a communal official space for report-writing shinobi, since she started. Not that she needed it, but she suspected that he liked her company for reasons unknown to her. She liked his company as well, but the nagging question of why he was so…attached, one could say, to her kept playing with her mind. What in the hell was that man thinking? Whoever said women were the more confusing sex was dead wrong and should be executed for spreading such false truths.

"You really don't have to do that," Sakura answered never staring up from her work. She did that for two reasons; one was because she wanted to finished, and the other was that sometimes his looks made her shiver. She didn't feel like shivering right now.

He was quite until, "I don't mind doing it."

His answer was so basic that Sakura was confused by it. Many things confused her about Kakashi. This sense of peace she felt with him was uneasy to say the least, but she craved for it nonetheless. It was like the sea before a storm. The warning bells had gone on for so long that they just became silent after a while leaving Sakura with an eerie serenity about her. Yet she was curious to see what would come, to see what he would bring. Yes she knew Kakashi wasn't normal; her instincts told her that much, but she didn't know what was different. That insanity she'd seen had come and gone leaving her nothing else to search for.

Slapping her last file closed Sakura closed her eyes and stretch letting out a mew-ish noise. Her eyes met Kakashi's when she opened them again and she noted that the man was staring at her strangely. Shaking her head and stood up.

"Care to meet me outside," she began, "I have to leave these things off in Tsunade's office." He nodded replacing his book in his jacket pocket.

"See you in a bit." And with that he left.

It only took Sakura a few minutes to put away her files and scrolls before she was outside standing by Kakashi, who held up his hand in greeting.

"Yo, it's been a while."

She smirked at his lame attempt at humor before linking her arm with his own. His returned the motion tightening his arm around hers. She liked it when it was just them. She couldn't explain why, but she did. She felt safe and needed and those were feelings she hadn't experienced a lot.

"Keep your day job, Kakashi. Stand up comedy just isn't for some people."

"I think I'm quite funny, Sakura."

Sakura lowered her head. "Sometimes, but you don't mean to be." He laughed lightly at her jab at him, but said nothing more. He really wasn't the one to carry on the conversations. That was her job. Not that he was completely quite all the time, but he was a man who talked when he wanted to speak or had something to say. He wasn't boring in the least like she used to think when she was younger. In fact, he had some amusing anecdotes at times, and even if they were impersonal Sakura was happy he was at least sharing some things about himself with her.

All in all, Sakura was happy with him. He always offered a new light on different subjects they talked about, and she loved to hear him speak. His voice was soothing and deep, masculine, and she loved listening to him at times though his speeches could hardly be called long.

Sakura sighed again looking up at the night sky. The village of Konoha, despite the darkness, was warmly lit. Sakura could hear the distant, quiet conversations of families, and the glow from windows and street lamps made her feel warm and a little intoxicated. The village had always struck her as quaint at night and quaint always gave her a cozy feeling.

"I miss Konoha when I go on long missions," she spoke suddenly, more to herself than Kakashi, but she knew he was listening. "I love it here, especially at night. I like looking at the lights from the Hokage Mountain during the winter when it's cold, too." Her face scrunched up. "During summer the village is nice to look at, but it's not as magical or as warm looking as it is in the fall and winter."

"What has been your longest mission away, Sakura?" He asked softly not wanting to disturb the peace she felt.

"That's classified information, Kakashi." She smiled looking at his raised eyebrow and shook her head. "It was six months, but seriously the rest is classified. Tsunade would kill me if I said anymore."

"She sent you gambling to pay off some of her debts, didn't she?" he asked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well I didn't say anything, but it was a real mission despite that reason. Really, that woman needs help. I think she's jealous of me because I'm better at gambling than she is. I bet I could even bet you, Kakashi." Sakura said daringly looking into his one eye bravely.

His eyes closed in another smile. "Was that a challenge, Sakura?"

"Take it as you like." Sakura shrugged gliding closer to him.

Before she knew it they were in front of her apartment building and Sakura, like she always, was split between inviting him up for tea or coffee or just leaving him to do his own thing. And as if sensing her discomfort, Kakashi smiled.

"I'd better go now. Tsuande has a mission for me tomorrow."

"A mission. What mission?"

"That's classified, Sakura." She laughed a little, said goodnight and goodbye, but before she could turn her back and walk up the stairs Kakashi did something he never did before.

He kissed her.

&&&

It was fleeting, so much that it couldn't rightly be called a kiss. He had his mask on as well. Sakura tried to emphasize that point in her mind. She hadn't even had the time to look shocked before Kakashi smiled again and wished her a goodnight.

He took the whole episode in stride, complete and utterly confidant in his actions. If anything, Sakura thought, he must have meant it as a friendly action. He didn't make a fuss over it anyway. He didn't look into her eyes with a longing gaze, with love, or with any other such romantic silliness, but purely smiled and walked away.

Friendly. That's all it could have been.

Bending over her bathroom sink and looking into her mirror, Sakura tenderly touched her lips. When she pulled her fingers away she was smiling. Kakashi kissed her. It was so strange. The moment played on and on in her mind. It wasn't like she hadn't been kissed before, but this was Kakashi. This was different. She had never been kissed by an ex-sensei, a man who thrilled yet terrified her; a man who made her feel safe one moment and cautious the next. It wasn't a fiery or passionate kiss, their flesh hadn't even touched thanks to his mask, but it had been the most revolutionary kiss of her twenty-five years of life.

When she saw her reflection in the mirror, just one moment later, her smile was radiant.

"Oh, God," she whispered to no one but herself, a sinking feeling in her stomach, "I'm in trouble."

&&&

The following morning, Naruto greeted her with a wide cat shire grin. "Hey, Sakura-chan," he chanted.

The sun was painfully bright as it reflected into Sakura's eyes off the Hokage Tower. Having just woken up on thirty minutes prior, Sakura was still adjusting to being awake. She longed for the days when she was able to get up and not have to deal with adjusting too much to the new day. Naruto, though, didn't seem to have that problem as he stood there just smiling at nothing in particular. It was either because of his natural cheerful and energetic ways or he had got some last night. Thanks to Hinata. Whichever it was Sakura was envious.

"Mornin', Naruto." She looked around again and sighed. "What are you doing here so early? You usually don't come see Tsunade until noon."

Throwing his arms behind his head Naruto laughed. "Yeah, well I decided to get an early start today. Couldn't really sleep, ya know," he winked at this and Sakura rolled her eyes. At least that answered the question of why exactly he was so happy. "Hey, did you know that Kakashi had a mission today. He left about ten minutes ago."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, he told me last night."

"I didn't think good ole' Tsuande was going to let him go anywhere for a while, but I guess I was wrong." Naruto continued following her up the stairs to Tsunade's office. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

"Why do you say that?"

Naruto peered up at her confused, child-like. "Well, it's like he's been gone a long time and no one knows where, ya know."

Sakura blinked once. Something filled in her, heavy and troubling. It reminded her of that time she stole money from her mother's purse a long, long time ago. Sakura swallowed. It was that same guilty feeling again. Naruto shook her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright, Sakura-chan?"

Immediately she smiled. "Yeah, of course, just a bit tired and I guess I can see your point, but Tsunade seems to accept whatever story he's told her."

Naruto this time was by her side as they strode down the hall. "Maybe he lied?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think he did. Tsuande may suck at gambling but she is very intuitive."

Naruto nodded sagely. "You got a point there, but still I want to go on a mission with Kakashi, you, and Sasuke."

"You know Sasuke can't leave Konoha, Naruto; he might never be able to again." Sakura said with a bitter taste in her mouth.

For Sasuke's past sins, and there were many, he was lucky enough to be accepted back into Fire. Though she didn't think he would ever be able to leave Konoha again unless with ANBU escorts, or unless Naruto became Hokage; maybe then things would change. Shaking her head, Sakura rid herself of those thoughts.

Naruto wisely changed the subject after that and they talked about other things until Tsunade yelled at them to come in.

"Naruto, Sakura, what are you two during here so early?" She sounded annoyed at best. Tsuande glowered at them as they entered the room, her red nails tapping the desk. Sakura was sorely tempted to say something back, but decided to hold her tongue. Naruto choose the opposite.

"You need to lay off the drinks, Tsunade-baasama," he laughed.

Tsunade stopping tapping her finger nails. The room became deadly silent. "What did you say?"

"I just said that you..."

Sakura cut Naruto off, holding his mouth shut as he trashed around. "He said that you look absolutely radiant today, Tsunade."

Tsunade gave her a quizzical, half amused look before stretching her arms out in front of her and glaring one last time at Naruto.

"I have your mission, Naruto," she began flipping through her files. Behind them Shizune entered with a stack of papers, gave a quick smile to both Sakura and Naruto, before dumping them on Tsunade's desk. The woman's look was priceless.

"You have to be kidding me, Shizune."

"Afraid not." she answered back lightly. "Looks like fun if you ask me."

Sakura groaned into her hands, dreading the tasks Tsunade would make her do. Didn't she do enough paper work yesterday? Tsunade, sensing her pupil's emotions, smiled.

"Sakura, don't worry, I'm making that Sasuke do some of the paper work today, since that good for nothing has nothing else to do." She smiled as Naruto and Sakura looked at her, surprised.

"B-But why?" Sakura asked confused. She usually did the paper work. Why did she sound so proud of that? Maybe she really did need some time off again.

"Naruto," Tsunade said ignoring Sakura, "take your mission file and go see Aberu. He'll explain your mission in full detail when your other team mates arrive."

Naruto crossed his arms at the dismal but wisely said nothing stupid and with a few loud words left the room, but not right before giving Sakura a thumbs up and one-eyed wink.

"Now, Sakura," Tsuande said turning towards her with shinning eyes, "as for your mission..."

From that moment onwards everything that Sakura ever knew to be true would disappear. And far in the future, when she was old and grey, kids would sometimes ask her if she could take back anything what would it be, and without fail she would always answer:

"_I sometimes wish I never knew what happened to him."_

And that was it.

**A/N**: Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I've been in major slump, still am, but I will try my best to get the next chapter out.

**Felix02**


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